Serendipity: A Few Mass Effect Series Tidbits
by GarrusVakarianTheSeducer
Summary: This story follows the tale of three best friends of the Alliance Navy who were saved by Shepard on Eden Prime. Follow them as they travel across the galaxy with Shepard and her crew. Self inserts: Me (Maha), Darrin, and Tanya. If you don't like that, don't read it. Face models located on my profile. These tidbits are from a few stories that I'm making based on ME1, ME2, and ME3.
1. Tidbit 1

_During Mass Effect_

**Tidbit #1**

**Maha's POV**

I quietly looked down at my workspace below me. Appreciating the small but deadly pistol in my hands. The tiny clicking soothed my frayed consciousness as I took apart the heavy pistol for cleaning. I laid the ammo in a perfectly neat line next to detached grip of the gun, I paused for a bit...examining the line of ammo until I found the flaw that tempted to make my eye twitch out of annoyance, I straightened the single block of ammo before weakly blowing a strand of inky black hair that threatened to block my vision. Sometimes making the world go black and shadowy, I sometimes felt disarray when that would happen, when my long wavy locks would block my vision I would feel vulnerable, like the enemy could see me but I couldn't see them...let's call it paranoia I suppose. The workbench before me creaked slightly when I set the multiple pieces of my pistol down, I started with the grip. That's where most of the bacteria probably was anyway. I polished it and smoothed out the smeared natural human oil that tainted my gun, soon I was able to see my currently stoic features reflecting back at me.

I set the grip down and reached down to pick up an escaping piece of ammo, a low whistle caught my attention and I snapped straight up, realizing that I was being watched. My gaze flit around the mass hanger that carried the almost indestructible Mako before laying my eyes on a certain Turian who leaned heavily on the Mako's side, he must have been working on the old girl, she did get a bit battered from the last run she pulled. I smiled slyly in his direction before rolling my almost black eyes at his ridiculousness. I sighed, knowing that Turians had very, very sensitive ears, I whispered out, "Keep whistling at me like that and I might just have to come over Mr. Vakarian.." I heard a light scoff from the other side of the room and tried not to laugh at the obviously flustered Garrus who tried to busy himself with the Mako again, dropping utensils from time to time when I snuck peeks in his direction. My head snapped over a few feet next to me, Wrex was leaning at his usual spot, but this time..he was toying with his shotgun. He shook his head and looked over at me with a slight sneer. I wrinkled my brows at him and shrugged my shoulders, feigning pure innocence. "What?!" He exhaled silently and muttered under his breath, "Go to his bunker if you need to, but don't do anything stupid here or I'll personally throw both of ya out the airlock." I chucked, my long wavy hair bobbing gently, a familiar flanging voice jittered up and I tried not to scoff, Garrus was giving himself a death wish, "You're just jealous, Wrex." I turned to see him busying himself with the Mako again, his mandibles flaring from time to time to indicate that he had been pulling off a signature Turian smile. Wrex merely grunted and shook his head, "Keep talkin' boy…" I knew Wrex was only joking; such was his nature of jokes…they usually consisted of multiple but funny death threats.

I looked over to see Ashley shuffling though her locker, her workbench filled to the brim with different types of ammo and weapons; she was the gunnery chief after all. But there was a certain air about her that seemed to scream, 'Don't fucking talk to me or I'll laser beam you to death with my glower power.' I didn't care, we often got into debates and arguments due to our clashing personalities, I know I shouldn't question what was up with her now, but curiosity got the better of me and general concern took over. Sure she could be a bitch sometimes, but I was capable of the same thing. I cautiously approached her until I was standing above her crouched form, "What's up?" She looked up at me and sighed exasperatedly, "Nothing...just…anxious." I cocked my head to the side and put my hands on my hips. What was worrying her? I cleared my throat and inquired on, " Wanna talk about it?" Her light brown eyes found mine and her heavy lashes brushed against her pink cheeks. She sighed again, "Don't you...I don't know, feel weird with...them aboard?" I looked at her quizzically before briefly glancing over at Wrex and then Garrus. I knew full well that they could hear even the slightest whisper within this room; the question was...were they listening?

My gaze returned to Ashley again, "Not the slightest, I learned long ago that that kind of attitude doesn't help." Ashley stood up, she was by far much taller than me, hell I was only five foot one, everyone was a giant to me. Her expression hardened. "It's not an attitude, I'm just expressing how I feel around them and I sure as hell don't trust them or feel safe around them." I looked at her, disbelief clear on my lips. "They are our only hope to finding Saren in his tracks and you're sitting here moping about your fucking xenophobia? It's been 26 years already, you can leave when this is done." Ashley gritted her teeth, her jaw clenched and it was clear she did everything in her power right now to hold back and not slug me. "...It's not fucking xenophobia, I just don't trust them. They're suspicious and we can't trust them, not this quickly, Shepard should realize that." I huffed exasperatedly. How can she not realize that she was indirectly just being racist?! Someone cleared their throat in the hanger before going back to work again and I had known Garrus had been listening.

Wrex sauntered over to him and watched from a distance as the two women bickered vehemently towards each other. There had been a lot of cussing, pointing, and harsh tones. Wrex chuckled heavily, clearly amused by the show the two human females put on. "Heh heh...these catfights just keep getting better and better…looks like your girlfriend is about to loose her shit." Garrus stood up from his crouched position and sighed heavily, these fights were becoming hell of a lot more frequent...why couldn't they for just one day, ignore each other. "She's not my girlfriend...yet." He shook his head, his iridescent blue green eyes surveying over Maha and Ashley, "And these catfights are not entertaining, Wrex...someone could get hurt…or accidentally fly out of the hanger." Wrex snorted, resting against the Mako. "You're a terrible liar Garrus, I know you think these catfights are entertaining." Garrus rolled his eyes and crossed his long arms across his chest, after a moment of silence his mandibles flared and he threw his taloned hands up, his voice flanging strongly in annoyance, "Okay fine..maybe they are just a little amusing." Wrex grunted a chuckle and looked back at the still arguing females, "This is why when females are mad and have guns in their hands on Tuchanka, us males steer clear out of the way." Garrus set his utensils down looked back the fight, "Come on you big brute, we have to stop this before Shepard does."

They both hesitantly sauntered over towards the females, Wrex warily nodded his head towards Maha and Garrus visibly gulped. "Alright, ladies..ladies..let's not get our bloomers in a twist here...break it up before Shepard finds out." Ashley glared at Garrus, "Bloomers? Are you fucking kidding me?" Garrus's eyes widened and he whispered at Wrex, "Aren't those what human females call their undergarments?" Wrex shrugged awkwardly, "How the hell am I suppose to know, wise crack?" Maha snapped back at Ashley, "OI, he didn't do anything wrong, don't you dare talk to him that way you bitch!" Wrex whispered a bit disppointed, "Why doesn't she defend me like that?" Garrus looked back him, "You don't want an answer to that." He turned back just in time to see the two girls lunge at each other Garrus and Wrex quickly intervened, the Turian grabbed Maha by the waist, his long fingers wrapping around her frame easily. He hefted her up off the ground easily, fighting off her thrashing while Wrex blocked Ashley's line of sight. "Get her outta here, Garrus." Garrus huffed exasperatedly and threw her over his shoulder, "Would you stop squirming! This fight is over, we're going to have a little talk."


	2. Tidbit 2

_During Mass Effect_

**Tidbit #2**

**Maha's POV**

I walked into the co-ed bathroom, it was sad really...the first steady partnership between the turians and humans and they couldn't even have gender appropriate bathrooms on the fucking Normandy?! So far I've run into Joker and Kaidan, and sadly for me I was not so happy...them on the other hand, I can't say. My shampoo was in a firm grip in my hand and my hair was in a messy bun on top of my head. I stopped in front of my reflection for a bit before blinking my deep brown eyes, pausing to hear if there was anyone else in the bathroom.

After hearing nothing I walked to the pantry and grabbed a bar of drab standard soap and stripped down to nothing. I tossed my clean clothing on the hamper directly aligned to my stall before entering and turning on the showerhead. Cold water tingled down my body, it felt like a dozen needles were pin pricking me everywhere before I hastily turned the knob left and allowed my tense body to relax. We were given 10 minutes tops before the shower closed so I quickly got to work with lathering my shampoo into my black hair. I instinctually closed my eyes as the water ran down my face and quickly began on working the soap along the tight knots of stressed muscles all over my body.

After ten minutes the showerhead turned off and I opened my eyes with annoyance. The feeling of warm water gone and soon goose bumps prickled my caramel tan skin. I hastily wrung out my wet hair until it no longer dripped and squinted my eyes in steamy fog, the downside to these bathrooms, couldn't see shit after a hot shower. I peeked out from my stall, grabbing for my towel that I thought I hung up on the hook next to my door but upon groping at nothing but empty air I stuck out my head to see...no towel. I growled, "Fuck, I was at the pantry before...how could I forget the towel...SHHHHIIITT." I stopped moving and listened around to see if anyone else was out there, I didn't hear anything so I sneakily exited my stall, covering my privates awkwardly just in case and tip toed out to be hit by even more steamy hot fog. I squinted trying to find the pantry when all of a sudden something warm and fuzzy like ran across my foot. I released loud high-pitched scream at my sudden surprise and heard something drop from the other side of the fog.

I yelped and ran away from the area that I currently stood at only to collide right into something huge, plate covered, and well...Turian. I looked up for a moment when I heard a sharp gasp from him and we both yelped as my wet feet slipped on the tile floor and I came crashing down on top of Garrus...wet...and naked...and...Oh my god, I'm on top of Garrus. Wait, why wasn't he wearing any armor. I grunted as we both tried to gather our bearings, "Fuck! Holy shit...I'm so sorry Garrus." Realizing that I was naked I gasped and scrambled off of him and quickly covered my privates, "OH MY GOD TURN AROUND TURN AROUND" Garrus chirped frantically as he immediately stood up and faced away from me. I ran for the pantry and quickly wrapped my body with a towel and he yelled out exasperatedly, "YOU FORGOT YOUR TOWEL?!" I scowled at the floor and huffed, "YOU WERENT WEARING ANY CLOTHES WHY THE FUCK NOT?!" The clack of his mandibles resonated towards me and I watched as he turned towards me, a towel finally wrapped around his waist, my cheeks flared up and I was sure my body temperature just went off the charts. "Gee I don't know Maha, maybe because I was going to take a shower! I didn't hear you in hear until you ran into me like a crazy wet..naked...attractive..." I looked up at him to see him awkwardly clearing his throat, "And why were you screaming?" It was my turn to feel awkward as I bit my bottom lip, "I felt something run across my foot…" My cheeks flared up again as I realized that Garrus had a very tone body, even for a Turian.

He chuckled quietly before I pouted childishly at him and then it hit me, "Wait, you think I'm attractive?!" My head snapped up at him, his eyes grew visibly wide before he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "...so something ran across your foot?" I looked away, swiping away a wet strand of hair before he cleared his throat, "Did you see-" "I-I saw n-nothing!" "Okay you're lying!" "Same goes to you, Garrus!" He rubbed the back of his neck as the silence drew on before he mumbled, "It was a good view…" my jaw dropped and before I could scold him for admitting to seeing my goods a loud voice yelled and resonated into the bathroom before finally I recognized Shepard's long platinum hair in a bun and her steely blue eyes looking at the two of us, "Mr. Whiskers! Hey have you two seen the hamster?" We both shook our heads before Shepard exclaimed excitedly and leaned down under a sink to pick up her evil hamster.

I walked into the hanger via exiting the elevator and awkwardly shuffled towards Garrus who was crouched into the Mako, tinkering. I cleared my throat and he double took before banging his head, "Oh! God, I'm sorry if I startled you!" He chuckled quietly and shook his head, "That's quite alright..I didn't expect to see you down here..." I smirked and bit my bottom lip, "Well someone had to be the man." He chuckled again and leaned against the Mako, "Ouch, fine I'll give you that...what's up?" I looked down at my heeled boots and shuffled my right foot before looking back up at him, "I wanted to apologize for running into you." He shook his head; his mandibles spreading to show his signature Turian smile. "That's quite alright, I didn't mind." I huffed quietly before joining in on his laughter, finally I sent him a sly smirk and said, "Well...now I know that that slit between your plates hides yo-" the sound of Wrex's loud groaning resonated at them, "Just screw already! You're making me sick!"


	3. Tidbit 3

_During Mass Effect 3_

**Tidbit #3**

**Maha's POV**

I stared at Tali, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation but nonetheless listening to her ramble on, "Oh come on, Maha! This is the perfect time to show off that fine ass of yours! I know you have one, it's kinda hard to miss with that armor that you love to wear to battle." I stared at her flabbergasted, an exasperated sigh leaving my lips before and groaned, "Fine..fiinneeee! You can help me shop for an outfit for the party, but we're not getting anything skanky you hear me, I've lived through having to dance and wear skanky things when I was on Omega." Tali laughed and held up her hands in a surrendering way, "Alright, Alright, I promise miss prissy!" I looked back at her again with my arms folded across my chest, we were sitting together in the mess hall when Darrin passed by us with Tanya and yelled, "YOU ARE A PRISS." I snapped around to flip him off and laughed when Tanya bonked him on the arm, "Apologize to her now!" Darrin huffed but Tanya cut him off by pointing towards me, he sauntered over with droopy shoulders and a hung down head, "I'm sorry…priss." I clambered out of my seat to give chase to him as he laughed and ran back to Tanya only to be held back by Tali, "Hey hey! Calm down already, we were only here to eat because we're both cheap, let's get back on shore and shop!"

I looked at the tiny piece of leather with wide eyes, it was a cut up crop top, barely covering my midriff let alone my boobs, I may barely have any in the first place but they were still visible if the shirt was low enough so I looked back at Tali and she cocked her head to the side, "What? Isn't it sexy?! I love the black and leathery aspect!" I put the thing back on the rack and she put her hands on her hips, "Oh come on Maha! This is the tenth shirt you've put back onto the rack because it was too "sexy"." I groaned quietly and hid my face in the shirts that were hung up in front of us, "I told you, I don't want anything overly sexy, scared the shit out of my the last time I did it and Garrus had to save my ass for it too, he wasn't too happy." Tali was quiet for a few moments and then rubbed her hand along my back, "I'm sorry, I should I realized, I know you told me, I just didn't think this would make you feel awkward. Come on, we'll keep looking and then we'll put the shirt on with the rest of your stuff and see how the whole outfit looks. How does that sound?" I picked my face back up and smiled gently at her, she was too sweet. I hugged her and she laughed jovially, "I take that as a yes!"

"Oh come on Maha, come out, this isn't any different from the other casual outfits you wear and the armor you love." I looked at the mirror before me and gasped, I never really made the effort to show off too much skin and I was surprised at the pleasant view in the mirror that reflected me in it. The only other time I had decided to show my skin flamboyantly was when I was on Omega and I had to, people would have gotten suspicious if I hadn't followed the rules I signed up for. A shiver went down my spine at a terrifying memory before Tali's voice called out to me again, "Maha, is everything okay?" I cleared my throat, begging the knot in my throat to go away. "Uh...yeah! I'm okay, here, I'll come out and you can judge it for yourself." I walked out from behind the curtain, a sheepish blush spreading throughout my cheeks as I kept my head down. I could hear the intake of breath from her mask and looked up at her with wide eyes, "What? What? Does it look bad? I didn't think it looked bad!" Tali waved her hands up to stop my rambling, "Girl..girl…this is the right mix of cute, sexy, and laid back. EKK! ITS PERFECT!" I finally released the breath that had been hitched in my throat and laughed loudly along with her. The shirt was a light pink up top and then as it trailed down it slowly faded into a white shade near the bottom, it was a sleeveless shirt and it wasn't too fit so it gave me enough room to be comfortable. There was lettering on the front, "Hug me Brotha." I specifically loved the shirt a million times over for that. Along with the outfit I was wearing leather black shorts that came up to my things, hugging my back side more than I would want to but it was still comfortable, a bit tight, but comfortable nonetheless. I wore floral fishnets and heelless black high heels that clasped in the front. I turned side to side to stare into the mirror and then Tali released a loud gasp, holding her hands up to her mask, "You do have an ass! Garrus wasn't lying!" I looked towards her with shock written all over my face before I shook my head and waved my arms at her, "Oh shut up, Tali, you ain't the only one with an ass!"

~OOO~

The drink in my head swished around a bit as I played around the glass, swallowing the bitter but buzzing drink. I smiled up at Darrin as he recalled one of our escapades together, Tali was standing next to me while Garrus stood next to Darrin. The party was starting to get a lot livelier now that the drinks were getting more frequent, she couldn't blame them, drinks made things a hell of a lot more fun. She could hear Liara's drunk laughter from all the way over here and they were currently occupying the living room near the fireplace, Liara was a story above them cracking up about something which was extremely rare because Liara was never drunk. It made me both happy but a bit worried…and maybe just a tad bit scared. But overall it cracked me up..a drunk Liara was a funny Liara. She should just get drunk more often, she works to hard sometimes. Shepard was off to the side with Joker, EDI, and Thane, they were attempting to show the unique couple how to dance the Waltz. Thane held Shepard gently as he wrapped an arm around her leathery back. She looked beautiful in her black leather dress and her hair down, it cascaded along her back and she looked at Thane with so much love it made me smile just looking at them. Shepard deserved this, hell, especially after that stupid clone business that made everything go out of wonk. And especially after Kai Leng. I was just happy that the Hanar and the Salarians had distributed the cure to Kepral's Syndrome before Thane had that major puncture wound from Kai Leng's sword, otherwise he wouldn't have had enough oxygen in his blood to go through with the surgery, a little blood donation from Kolyat had helped as well. I personally was glad to see those two smiling again. Shepard deserved this one last moment before the storm. I blinked my deep brown eyes and swiped a strand of inky hair over my shoulder before catching an insult from Darrin, "Oi! I did not kick the guy in the balls!"

Tali looked over at me, she put a hand on her hips and moved her finger in a circle, indicating to me to turn around in a slow circle. "Oh my god I can't believe we're trying to figure out if I have an ass or not…" Darrin waved a dismissive hand towards me before resting a finger under his chin, suddenly as I faced off to the side his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped, "HOLY SHIT YOU HAVE AN ASS." I huffed exasperatedly and rolled my eyes, crossing my arms sassily across my chest. "CAN I FINALLY SAY THIS NOW?" Darrin rolled his eyes at me and shrugged, "Fine, you have every right to now." Garrus looked at Darrin and his mandibles flared to indicated that he had been smiling, he nudged his shoulder and laughed, "I told you she had an ass, but noooooooo, you didn't want to listen, I've seen it in all it's fine glory." Darrin looked at him and nudged it back, "Fine, fine! You both were right." Tali raised a hand and stepped between all of us, draping her arm across my shoulders, "You may have the ass Maha, but you swing those hips?" I looked at her mischievously and winked, "It was about time someone asked." Garrus raised a hand as if he was in a classroom trying to get his teacher's attention, we both looked at him and I raised an eyebrow slyly in his direction, "Okay, are we not gonna believe me when I say that I've seen that too." Darrin looked at him and paused for a moment and then answered, "Yes, you ain't no proof ya big doof." Turian feigned a hurt posture and put a hand over his heart while the other one clamped down on Darrin's shoulder, "Ouch. I'm hurt sexy secret lover, is it because I'm a Turian and I like to keep secrets from people?" We erupted into laughter before Darrin sarcastically remarked back, "Yes Garrus, that's exactly what it is." I waved my hands in the air and walked towards the music console that was attached next to the fireplace, these little wall implants were all over the house incase Shepard wanted different music for different rooms, which was a little weird for everyday use but perfect for parties like these, "Oh shut up already and let's get this over with, I'm gonna blow your minds."

Tali looked as if she was gaping in my direction while we all danced in a tight circle, Darrin throwing his arms around and swinging his head around wildly, Tali swinging her hips freely, and Garrus doing the famous Shepard shuffle. He laughed over the music and pointed in my direction, "I told you all she could dance, but did anyone wanna believe me, no? Because all of you are assholes." Darrin had gotten over the initial shock way before when I had first started moving to the music, sashaying my hips seductively, even more strongly than Tali. My hips had moved in different angles, sharply and quickly. Darrin's mouth had been shamelessly open, and he had finally admitted that I had pleasantly surprised him. Despite all the years I've known him I've never really danced like this in front of him and I couldn't blame him for being surprised, most people were when they saw my innocent face swinging around so seductively. Garrus sashayed up to me and wrapped an around my waist, swinging his hips along with mine, enjoying the feel of my body up against his before Darrin yelled over the music, "Okay, let's not start making mutant babies right here right now, okay?" I looked up and swung my head to the beat smiled when Garrus's laughter vibrated gently against me, he yelled back, "You would be doing the same thing with Tanya right now, and don't try to hide that." Darrin looked thoughtful for a moment before raising his finger in the air, "…..I'm gonna go get Tanya." Tali, Garrus, and I laughed loudly at the young man's sudden franticness and we continued to dance, drinks in our hands, and sexy music blasting through our eardrums. I sighed quietly when I felt Garrus's hand slide down to my thigh before sliding back up again, he was purring gently, his way of saying that he was enjoying the moment. I looked over at Tali, her head was down but she was swinging those hips widely, her voice slurred as she sang along loudly, soon I had a feeling that she was going to be beyond drunk soon.


	4. Tidbit 4

_During Mass Effect_

**Tidbit #4**

**Darrin's POV**

I looked down get the console below me, diligently typing away minor commands and constantly checking the status of the ship's engines and hardware. Everything was running smoothly, the bright lights of the core flashing every 2 seconds could be a little distracting at times compared to the overall dark engineering facility but one could honestly get lost in the beauty of the Normandy's engine. I shook my head lightly, my afro swaying stiffly before settling back down. My eyes burned a bit, the feeling of tiny little needles prickling the whites of my dark brown eyes. But that could all just be because I had been staring at this specific console for a couple of hours straight. Engineer Adams would probably scold me in a few for standing in one spot for so long... he was always kind, a bit quirky too, but he cared for his fellow engineers. I couldn't help my pride, I would work until I saw fit, I didn't get my attitude and love for this line of work for nothing, I'm glad I was chosen to stay aboard the Normandy when Shepard found my team and I on Eden Prime. I guess being one if the most highly recognized Engineers of my time does pay off.

Here I was, distracted again, fuck it. Speaking of distractions...my heavily lashed eyes glanced over to my left to find a certain young Quarian working at her own console. She was a bright little thing, always happy and eager to share her knowledge of engines and mechanics, very wise for her age, she wasn't that much younger than me either. Tali 'Zorah Vas Neema. We got along very well when we first met while on the run from Fist's goons, and ever since then we've been close. My eyes instinctually traveled down her curvy figure, I blinked rapidly before bonking myself on the head and looking back over at my console. She must have noticed because a second later her trill caught my attention, "Everything okay there, Darrin?" Daaaammmnnnn ittttt...her accent made my common name sound so exotic, fuck it. I looked back over at her with a smile; I towered easily over her with my tall height.

I carefully walked towards her and smiled, " Yeah I'm good, just a little...distracted." She turned away from her console and gave her full attention to me; I could see the glow of her eyes that shown through her mask. She laughed delicately and shrugged her shoulders, "I can't say I blame you, standing and looking at these consoles for multiple hours straight does get a bit boring." I nodded my head smiling as she chattered on happily about random things, I leaned coolly against an inactive console and cleared my throat awkwardly, "So um.." I can't believe I was going to do this...fuck it. "Engineering...it's a lot of work, huh?" She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be contemplating my question, "Uuuhhh...yeah, I suppose." I looked down, suddenly a bit nervous and then out of the blue, I blurted out without thinking, "It uh, must be a lot of work maintaining those hips."

She snapped her head straight, she looked visibly taken aback. FUCKFUCKFUCK. "I...I-I mean you've got some nice hips there, you know, supportive and what not." She had crossed her arms across her chest, "Well, thank you Da-" I continued on though, not even shutting up my flapping gums, "Are you on a diet...you should go on one." "Pardon me?" "I mean...diets are good...diets make you more firm which would ya know...make your hips stand out more." Tali took a sharp breath and at first I thought she was going to yell at me but then she started laughing really hard. Gripping her stomach while she did so. Suddenly a familiar trill popped up behind me as I turned to see her, "OUUUUU FLIRTING WITH TALI IM GONNA TELL TANYA." Damn it Maha. She probably came down here to visit Tali but instead saw this. She bolted up the stairs and I chased after her, Tali yelled over the sound of our boots stomping up the stairs, "RUN MAHA RUN!"

I caught her running into the mess hall, her wild inky black hair bouncing rapidly as she darted straight for Garrus who was about to sit down with Kaidan, she ran behind him and gripped his shoulders, "What the hell is going on here?!" His loud chirping buzzed through my ears. Kaidan chuckled deeply before shaking his head, "Apparently we just got a career change...welcome to babysitting Garrus!" Garrus visibly rolled his eyes and looked at me for an explanation. I sighed and awkwardly ran a hand through my afro before flipping Maha off after she stuck her tongue out at me. "Okay, fine...I guess I set myself up for that one…I was...flirting with Tali and then that little weasel overheard my attempt and yelled:" I then proceeded to clear my throat and started imitating Maha's voice with my own high pitched cracking version of it, "BLUHBLAHBLAH IM GONNA TELL TANYA UUUHHHHHHOUUII." Maha stared daggers at me and piped up, "Oi! I sound nothing like that!" Kaidan released a held back chuckle and so did Garrus before Maha smacked them both on the backsides of their heads. I looked at Garrus who sighed and shook his head, "Why don't we all sit down like the adults we are and come to an arbitrary agreement." I huffed and pointed at Maha, "Oh come on! Bros before hoes!" Garrus and Kaidan guffawed before the Turian cleared his throat and turned to look down at his romantic interest, "Darrin has a point you know." Maha slowly looked at him with the power of a burning thousand suns in her eyes and then looked back at me she grabbed the nearest utensil and threw it at me, "Hoe huh?! Get over here so that I can beat your caramel ass!"


	5. Tidbit 5

_During Mass Effect_

**Tidbit #5**

**Darrin's POV**

I scrambled around, looking all over the engineering facility, my hand swept through my afro frustratingly before I racked out a vicious sigh. I unconsciously began pacing back and forth in front of my non portable console, out of habit I walked up to it and let my long fingers sweep across the holographic letters rapidly, the same procedure over and over again, sometimes my own typing speed amazed me. I blew air out from my slightly parted lips after triple checking the Normandy's systems only to find out that the girl was okay and running steadily, heck she was running beautifully without a hitch. I scratched my head and walked over to my locker, "Maybe I shoved the damn thing in here, it surely can fit...it ain't that big!" I shuffled through some old parts that I kept there for emergency purposes and shuffled through old chips and engine parts for tinkering until I huffed out, clearly aggravated. "Of course the damn thing ain't there." I slammed my locker, trying to shut it but the huge dent that scarred it now prevented it from doing so. Which...by the way, I have no idea how it got there, the stupid locker was beautifully undented a day ago and now it's all punctured. I pushed on the door until it clicked before walking away, scoffing my feet on the ship's floor. I looked up when the Normandy's core caught my attention, the flashing mesmerizing me for a second before a tiny hand placed itself on my shoulder.

A voiced snapped me back into reality and I turned toward Tali who had her hand on my shoulder. She removed her hand and cocked her head to the side; I smiled weakly, "Pardon? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you, Neema." Tali's voice was laced with worry and anxiety, "Are you okay Darrin? You've been acting very upset ever since you walked in today...what's bugging you?" I knew I could tell her anything but just listening to her apprehended voice made me feel guilty that I was making her worry. I sighed and finally spilled it, "I don't know where it went or when it disappeared but I've lost my portable console. That thing ain't cheap!" She blinked, her luminous eyes staring me down before she but a hand under the mouth piece of her mask, "Hmmm…did you try retracing your steps?" I nodded my head vigorously and pointed to were I last left it, right next to my workspace. She put a hand on her curvy hips, "Give me a second, I feel like I might know where it may have gone." I wrung my hands nervously, that console was a part of my life, I loved it as much as my girlfriend, Tanya...okay maybe less but I still treasured it, we've been through a lot of shit together. "And I checked my locker just in case too, and for some miraculous reason, my locker is all dented and banged up, like someone tried to get into it."

She nodded her head and there was a long and dead pin drop silence for a while before she snapped her fingers and gasped, "AH HA! Of course how could I be so silly! I recalled seeing Wrex in here yesterday! You were upstairs eating lunch and I had just finished when I saw what looked like him leaving with a portable console as I was coming back in, and I bet you he looked in your locker first...got frustrated with it and then moved to your workplace and grabbed it from there!" I gritted my teeth in aggravation, "UGH...seriously?! Goddammit Wrex." I mumbled degradedly. "Well, I better go see why the hell he took it without notifying me, thanks a million Tali, you're the best!" I quickly hugged her before darting up the stairs.

The door swiped open quickly revealing the Mako hanger, Garrus wasn't there but Ashley and Wrex were in their respective corners. I huffed and marched right on over to Wrex who seemed to be mumbling to himself in an aggravated tone, "...Shit when he finds out, he's not gonna be happy." I shook my head to find his large body facing a workbench, "Not happy about what, Wrex?" I heard an audible curse that my translator didn't pick up on, assuming it to be a foreign curse I suppose. He turned towards me and put on a smile that made me stare at him wide eyed, frankly it scared the shit out of me to see him like this instead of his usual grumbling self, "Darrin, old buddy, I didn't see ya there for a second. What brings you to my enlightening acquaintance?" He was turned towards me now, leaning slighting to the right, I narrowed my eyes at him, he looked almost as if he was trying to hide something.

"Okay..Wrex..that scares the shit out of me..." He grunted before giving me his signature laugh, "Heh heh heeeehh, I always knew you never had any balls." I glowered at him, crossed my arms across my chest, and put all my weight on my right foot, "okay...no comment." He chuckled again and I peeked past his side with my eyes to see something sparking, the familiar engraving of my name on the side caught my attention. "Wrex...before I have a heart attack...do you wanna explain to me exactly why my portable console is with you and why it looks like it's about to spontaneously combust?" Wrex looked down at the ground for a moment and the back up at me, "What console? I don't know of any damn console, boy. Now scram." I exasperatedly tossed my hand in the air, "Yo, that's an outright lie because I can see it right there on the workbench behind you!" Wrex pulled out his pistol and waved it in my direction, "Are you calling me a liar you little pyjak?!" I put my hands up to my chest, surrendering, "Woah woah, it's okay Wrex I'm not trying to start a fight..I just want my console back."

He looked at me with those piercing blood red eyes, his pupils dilated into tiny slits before retracting back to normal, he holstered his pistol and stepped away from the work bench to reveal my portable console in literal shambles, it was sparking, the holographic features kept flickering on and off, and it was dented in certain places. My mouth hung open and I stared at Wrex who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahem..yeah, I may have taken a tiny bit of anger out on it." I snapped my head in his direction and stared at him with wide and flustered eyes, "A TINY BIT?!" He growled at me before I raised my hands up again, "Joker sent me some vids to my extranet account and I thought I'd borrow your computer so that I could watch 'um." I folded my arms across my chest again, "Why didn't you use your omni-tool?!" He grunted before folding his own arms across his chest, "I would have if my omni-tool wasn't getting repairs at the shop on the Citadel..." I looked at him again, "What made you literally destroy my laptop!?" He coughed awkwardly and mumbled something under his breath; I leaned closer and hissed, "What's that, Wrex?" "I couldn't get your password..." I scoffed clearly exasperated before throwing my hands up, "Not cool dude! You know what I realized? I keep having to fix the things that YOU keep breaking! First it was the soda dispenser in the mess hall, then it was Shepard's fucking fish tank, and then it was Garrus's personal data pad, and now it's my portable console." Wrex looked down at the ground and mumbled, "My fingers are really stubby...it makes everything ten times harder, you would be just as mad if you couldn't get things to work." I looked at him again, shaking my head, "No...No Wrex I wouldn't, because I don't have destructive tendencies like you do." After a long, long silence I finally heard him chuckle lowly, "You're just jealous ya pyjak." I sighed and slightly smirked, "What was so important about these videos that Joker sent you?" Wrex looked at me dead seriously and said, "Porn. I wasn't about to miss out, you crazy?" I groaned loudly and face palmed myself, "OF FUCKING COURSE WREX, OF COURSE." There was a moment of silence before Wrex shoved my shoulder roughly and blurted out, "Hey, is that suppose to be doing that?" I snapped my head up when I heard the crackling of fire, my console had caught on fire. "HOLY SHIT WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER?! HELP ME PUT THE FIRE OUT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" He was walking away towards the elevator, "Ahh, screw that I'm hungry…"


	6. Tidbit 6

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #6**

**Darrin's POV**

I guffawed loudly as Kenneth joked around with Gabby until she left to go up to the mess hall for some lunch. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows at him, "You do realize that everyone thinks you'd be a cute couple?" Kenneth rolled his eyes, his thick accent rolling quickly off his tongue, "And by everyone you mean Kasumi right?" I shook my head, a wide smirk cast on my young face. "Not just Kasumi ya ass, but she does keep insisting." Donnelly shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck while opening his locker next to my own which I was trying to open as well. "I swear, the girl loves playing match maker, she can't stop blubbering about Maha and Garrus or you and Tanya, sometimes that woman drives me crazy, ya know?" I looked over when Kenneth exasperatedly huffed before leaning his hands on his knees, "You okay, man?"

Donnelly looked up at me and shook his head, "My tender bits still hurt from 2 days ago, I can't believe I actually tried for that bloody girl." I guffawed before Donnelly waved a hand at me,"Ha, serves you right for trying to hit on Jack. Gabby is never going to drop this...you're such an idiot." I realized that something was missing and felt my heart sink, I began shuffling through my locker quickly and exasperatedly when I realized that my portable console was missing. "You go on without me Ken, I've got some...business to take care of."

He shrugged before slamming his locker shut and heading towards the elevator up to the mess hall. I shuffled roughly through my pile of spare parts and random junk before coming across a note, _'Hey Darbs! My tank baby wanted to know how to watch vids on the extranet and he claimed that Joker sent him some educational vids so I borrowed your console, I'll return it quickly I promise so don't pop a blood vessel. -Maha'_ I ground my teeth together and slammed my head into my locker, "SECOND TIME SOMEONE'S STOLEN MY COMPUTER FFFUUUUCCK." I was exasperated, I slammed the locker shut after grabbing the note Maha left me and sighed, "At least she didn't break my locker like Wrex did last time..." I looked for signs of any struggle and sighed, my head was starting to hurt, "I knew it, she hacked it." I began making my way towards the elevator and quickly opened up my omni-tool and opened up a recent chat window with Maha,

_'Hey bitch. Thanks for leaving that note in my locker and oh I don't know...STEALING MY LAPTOP.'_

Her reply was quick and I can almost imagine the smirk she had on her face right about now,

_'Hey to you too dickbag, and I BORROWED it, and if I'm correct, there's a huge ass difference between stealing and borrowing. Now calm your titttaaaasss, Grunt has your console and I'm standing in the line, I can see him from here..' _

I swear, a blood vessel did just pop as I started imagining the different types of scenarios that involved my computer and a teenage alien going through puberty. I wish this elevator would go faster, I just had a feeling my laptop was in danger for the second time. My omni-tool blipped as I got a new message,

_'Oh, by the way, Garrus says: Hey sexy lady, how ya doing? Then I asked him if he was cheating on me with you and he said nothing…STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY BOYFRIEND OR I'LL GO LESBIAN FOR TANYA!'_

I couldn't help but slightly smile at that and quickly entered the mess hall to find Thane and Zaeed sitting with Grunt and Tanya. My eyes darted around as I looked for Maha and I found her standing in line, her hand in Garrus's as they talked to each other. I mumbled exasperatedly, "Watching Grunt huh?" I then examined Thane and the others facing my direction to see if I could find any hint of panic on their faces, Thane looked calm as always, Zaeed was looking around the room rapidly until he spotted me and smacked Grunt's arm, Tanya wasn't facing me but I could tell by the way her back stiffened that she was anxious. Something happened…something just happened. "Uuuggghhhh..." I sauntered hotly towards them, my aura spewing anger and anxiety. I walked up behind Grunt but kept my distance before looking at all the faces that turned to look at me.

Tanya nearly tackled me and held me in a tight hug, her arms yanking me down to her height, which I towered over. "Darrin! Sugar cookie, pumpkin pie, teddy bear you look fantastic today!" I looked over at her with a steely gaze, a slight smirk spreading across my face. She was hiding something. "I-is that a new haircut it looks great on you!" Zaeed coughed into his fist obviously holding in a howl of laughter and Thane merely folded his arms together and leaned his chin on his fists, he was always calm but I could tell he was enjoying the situation. "Okay, what's going on?" Tanya's laughter rang in my airs and she swatted my arm playfully, "Going on?! Pfft! What's going on…nothing's happening! Don't be silly!" I sighed and watched as Zaeed finally looked at me and burst the bubble, "Bucky here broke your little device trying to get the keys to work. I think he got frustrated." My mouth dropped and I looked at Tanya who gave me a nervous smile before sitting back down next to Grunt who huffed, "HMPH, the stupid machine couldn't handle my superiority. That's clearly why it just broke apart." He watched a piece of the console fall off and sighed before picking it up and attempted to shove it in a random port on the side, it sparked a bit which made Grunt growl loudly before he pushed it away, "I even tried fixing the thing but it clearly doesn't want my help, ungrateful thing."

My eye twitched as Grunt turned to face me with a deadpan stare. I swear my blood pressure skyrocketed. "So...what you're trying to tell me, is that the console fell apart because it couldn't handle your "awesomeness"?" Grunt narrowed his aquamarine eyes at me, "Are you questioning my awesomeness?" I looked at Grunt and face palmed myself, "You're worried about your awesomeness when my computer was beaten and abused to near death?!" Grunt stood up and looked down at me, he shoved a stubby finger at my chest and I immediately put up my hands in a peaceful manner, "Listen, pyjak, I can't help it if your computer decides that it won't obey my command! I'm Grunt! A superior Krogan tank bred for perfection." I nodded my head and backed off a bit, allowing Grunt to sit back down and poke and prod my console curiously. I flinched when I heard a piece fall off the top of the screen before hearing Maha call my name from behind me.

Tanya stood up and gave her a warning look and Maha, confused, raised her eyebrows before both she and Garrus set their trays down, "What's the commotion?" Grunt's grumbling snapped my attention back to him, "Come on you stupid piece of Varren shit, turn back on, Grunt demands it!" There was a snicker from Zaeed before I shot him a look, he responded but putting his hands up and rolling his eyes. "Aw, my baby's demanding things." I looked back over to see Maha place a hand over her heart, Grunt turned to look at her and the pointed to the console, "Female human, make this work again." She looked confused before realizing that the console she had "borrowed" was now sparking and smoking. "Oh...uh..Grunt..ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

After the two bickered loudly, alerting the other people in the mess hall of their argument and making Garrus and Zaeed burst into silent fits of laughter, Grunt began protesting before Maha raised her voice and gave him **'The Look'**, "APOLOGIZE." He grumbled and cursed under his breath, giving me a deadpan look and finally mumbling, "I'm sorry for devastating your computer." I looked over at Maha who looked back at me with her arms across her chest, "You know, this would never have happened if you didn't "borrow" my console from my locker without asking." I looked at her and she exasperatedly pointed at everyone else at the table, "What about them!? They were sitting right there!" I heard a bunch of coughs and low whistles from the others as Thane rubbed the back of his head and Tanya cleared her throat, "What part of tank bred, homicidal, Krogan going through puberty didn't you get?!" Maha huffed and then immediately wrapped her arms around Grunt's head and pulled him into a boob hug unknowingly.

Grunt sneered in response before sighing, kind of getting used to her physical gestures of motherliness. Garrus released a sigh and rubbed his temple, "She always gives him boob hugs why don't I get a lot of those?" Zaeed snorted and folded his arms across his chest, "Aye, at least you get them, boy, what I'd give to get a damn boob hug around here." Grunt wrinkled what appeared to be his brows, "Boob hug? What is that kind of hug?" Thane cleared his throat and mumbled, "Maha...I think you might want to be a little less physical right now.." She was about to snap back at me but looked at Thane when he pointed out the fact that she was giving a boob hug without realizing it. She released Grunt and looked back at me, "Don't blame my tank baby! He didn't mean to!" Grunt intervened, "I'm not a baby, human!" She waved him off before we all heard the crackling of fire.

I looked at my now on fire computer and watched as everyone got out of their seats and slowly stood next to me. Garrus looked at me and patted my shoulder before Zaeed inquired, "Is it suppose to do that?" Grunt smiled happily, "HEEEH HEEH HEEH ...fire." I sighed and face palmed before Maha started, "...no.." And I finished, "No, no it isn't." Garrus clacked his mandibles as we all watched the flames eat away at my console, "I'll go get the fire extinguisher."


	7. Tidbit 7

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #7**

**Darrin's POV**

Two words. Two magical words that made the mostly serious crew of the Normandy peppy and wild. Wild enough that it made even the usually calm Thane pop his collar in anticipation...Shore..Leave. The Normandy had gotten banged up with Shepard barely giving the old girl a break, we've been doing missions non stop for the past 2 weeks. I smiled impishly to myself, just me and Tanya…alone, in the hotel room we booked, with the others. I sighed just thinking about the awkwardness, at least we had our own room, where no one would barge in or ruin our alone time. I was beat, and by the looks of the others, they were too. Miranda's usually flawless face looked a bit duller lately and Jack had seemed even snippier than usual, glaring at anything that looked at her the wrong way. This was a well-needed rest, sometimes being forced to ground was a vacation, a well earned one too and by the looks on the other's faces, they agreed too. We were all tired and we needed some time to collapse and forget about all our worries. My light brown eyes darted down to meet Tanya's beautifully iridescent blue green ones and she flashed me a quirky smile, her lips spreading to reveal her straight teeth.

I could just kiss her now if we weren't standing in the middle of the docking bay, none of the others made the first move to get out of here. We looked like idiots. Shepard piped up, her platinum blonde hair shining under the lights, it was up in a high straight ponytail. She looked peppy and happy, not as tired as she usually looked. She deserved this the most, and we all knew that. Aurelia Shepard was standing next to Thane sheepishly, ever since she broke it off with Kaidan she had been nervous to get with another man, Shepard was a one man kind of woman, but I'm glad she had someone like Thane at her side, he was surprisingly caring and gentle despite his occupation. "Alright guys, we were bound to be on shore leave sooner or later, except it happened a lot sooner so go scamper off! They gave us three days before the Normandy will be fit for duty, make the most of it. We should first head over to that hotel we booked, otherwise they'll cancel the reservation, this way children!" Thane held his arm out for Shepard and she looked up at him with delicacy before looping her hand around his strong bicep. The rustling of knapsacks and backpacks ran through my ears as I followed closely next to Garrus and Maha, they were hand in hand, talking delicately about the different kinds of advertisements they kept passing. Maha pointed out at the new Blasto movie poster and Garrus leaned down to peck her forehead, promising to take her to see it as soon as possible.

She had looked up at him, they stared at each other for a bit, she smiling sweetly and then I understood that they didn't have to speak any words to each other for the other to know that they loved each other dearly. I looked down at Tanya, her grip on my hand firm and tender. God, I loved this woman so much, there were certain times where I would space out and just appreciate what I had in life, what would I do without Tanya and my friends? She caught me staring and quietly leaned her head on my shoulder as we walked, "What do you wanna do tonight?" Her tone was light and curious, she looked onward, the hotel up ahead coming closer and closer, it was sleek and dark with multiple lights. Garrus's chirping got my attention, "Hey, we should do something tonight. Everyone else is going out tonight so why not just the four of us?" And here I was thinking of spending some alone time with Tanya, of course I had all night for that but still. I shrugged and looked down at Tanya to see her perk up excitedly, "Oh I like that idea! What did you guys have in mind?" Maha smiled at Tanya, letting go of Garrus's hand, Tanya did the same to me and the best friends locked arm together, whispering from time to time and giggling.

Garrus sighed and walked shoulder to shoulder with me, "Am I the only one who thinks that they secretly bang?" I looked over at him and guffawed loudly, "No brother, you are not." I clamped his shoulder, chuckling lightly with Garrus, "I feel so unloved, where did the love go..." Garrus looked at me and slung his shoulder around me, "I will always love you Darrin, you know I'm ready to strip for you any day." I held back a laugh, "You better be stripping everything...because I sure as hell don't pay you to look pretty." Garrus guffawed before the girls turned towards us, Maha had a mischievous look in her eyes, oh boy. She wiggled her eyebrows and squeaked out excitedly, "Let's go to a bar! I want some drinks!" I stared at her and shook my head; Garrus already had his face in his hands, recalling their last escapade.

I crossed my arms across my chest and cleared my throat, "Do you remember the last time we took you to a bar or do you want me to pull up that video which I by the way still have." Garrus held back a chuckle and pulled up his omni-tool, "YEAAAHH, you're sending that to me." I pulled up my own and smirked at Maha who was shooting a death glare at Garrus only to receive a peck on the nose in return. Tanya piped up, "Don't you guys dare deny my Robin her rights to a bar." I looked at my beautiful girlfriend exasperatedly and then back at Maha, "So do you wanna relive your last escapade? You l know, the one with the C-sec guard, annnddd...?" I waited for her to continue, I wanted her to be 100% sure she was ready to go back to the bar scene. "And I may have jumped into the Presidium lake..." She looked sheepishly down at her feet, "And?" "And I may have drunk one too many shots that night..." "And?" "And I thought the bartender had been a spider on roller blades so I had impulsively kicked him in the balls." "Aaaannddd?" "And then I may have called the C-sec officer a piece of pyjak poop." Tanya was snickering which then encouraged both to guffaw in loud pleas of laughter.

I looked at Garrus and shook my head, "I can't believe we're doing this again." He shook his head, his eyes closing shut for a second as he massaged his temples and as we followed after the girls towards a cab, Tanya yelled over the noise before linking her arm through Maha's, "TO ANOTHER ADVENTURE LETS GO MY LESBIAN LOVAAAHH!"

Garrus looked at me and sighed, Maha was in his arms, she had been a bit tipsy and we had stopped her there before it got worse. Now she was sleeping soundly, one of her arms were slung around his neck as he held her body up in a princess style. "Well, we'd better get to our rooms, she's passed out...kinda, she's going to need help changing, she thinks her fingers are missing. We'll see you two in the morning!" Tanya and I said our goodbyes and headed towards our room. I held my breath as we entered, I had specifically asked for the window panel room with an over looking patio, and I also asked that the room be delicately decorated with her favorite flower. I just wanted to lay in bed with her, I just we wanted to feel her presence next to mine. She turned on the lights and gasped loudly, her hands went up to her face before she turned to me and I smiled at her, "You did this all for me? Darrin this is too sweet of you, wasn't it expensive?" I watched as she slowly approached me, the dark green dress she wore brought out her eyes and hugged her hips. She cupped my cheeks with her hands, her thumbs caressing my face in soothing circles, "Tanya, love, it was worth every credit." She smiled widely at me before standing up on her tippy toes, wrapping her arms around my neck and gently pulling me down until I closed the gap. EVERYTIME we kissed sparks flew, never a dull kiss. Each one held a special place in my heart as I wrapped my arms around her waist and enjoyed the soft feel of her velvety lips against my own.

She sighed softly as I planted kisses on her neck. I scooped her up and set her down on the bed before scooting in next to her. We shared more lingering kisses, each more electrical than the last before we finally looked at each other. I held her right hand in mine, looking down at it before kissing it gently. My eyes found hers again, "I love you, Tanya Svirskaya, I am yours and only yours." She smiled my sheepishly, looking down for a moment before cupping my right cheek and staring deep into my eyes, those blue green gems penetrating my very soul. I just wanted to lay here with her tonight, I would wait until she was ready, I would wait as long as she wanted me to, "Oh Darrin..what would I do without you?" I smiled impishly before rolling my eyes, "Well, you'd be missing out on this ghetto fabulousness." I flipped my afro with my free hand and enjoyed the sound of her laughter vibrating against my chest, "I love you, Darrin Johnson." We held each other close and closed our eyes, basking in this privilege before it was too late.


	8. Tidbit 8

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #8**

**Maha's POV**

I looked at myself in the mirror, I wasn't happy, to say the least. I haven't been very happy for almost a year and a half now. So much had happened recently, so much had changed. It wasn't the same, it's like I've been torn away from the past life I had, worse actually...it was like I had died and was reborn to do something else. Ever since the Normandy was blown to bits, everything had changed…ever since Shepard died, everyone had gone their separate ways. Out of necessity. Coming out of an escape pod without Tali, Tanya, Darrin or Garrus had been disorienting to me, me and a few other bridge techs had made it out of the life pod alive, having not even the slightest idea if where we were. The only we had was a radio and Shepard's hamster that I had managed to grab. I didn't even know if Tanya and Darrin had made it out alive...until I had finally tracked them down using my hacking capabilities.

They had been safe and I had contacted them as soon as possible. We met up, crying and holding each other in the middle of a Citadel cafe on a busy afternoon cycle. I managed to track Tali too, she had gone back to the Flotilla, I contacted her as well. But Garrus, I hadn't been able to find him...and I knew he was alive. I looked back up at the mirror, my eyes slightly shimmering from the eye shadow I wore, my eyes lined with eyeliner and my long lashes coated thickly with mascara. Garrus was alive out there somewhere, I had gotten a lead...back on the Citadel. After Shepard had died I had gone back to Bailey for some work at C-sec, I had returned to my spy duties once more. He had been happy to see me, claiming that I had grown the last time he had seen me. I was currently on a mission in Omega…ha…I've been on the same mission for a year and a half now as we speak. With the lead about Garrus in my mind, I had chosen a mission that put me undercover on Omega. It wasn't exactly a 100% positive lead of him but there was apparently a band of freelancers that were knocking heads with the local mercenary bands, it had been rumored that there were two Turians within the 12 person group...it had to be him…one of them had to be Garrus and I, being the slightly noisy little girl I was, have been keeping very close tabs on their private accounts, them not knowing of course, one of the many benefits of knowing how to carefully hack.

My mission was simple, to find a small group of Batarians that were illegally trafficking human slaves against their will, female humans to be specific. The thought made me sick, after a year of stalking, hacking, nearly blowing my cover as a dancer for Aria, and closely monitoring their moves, I had reported back to Bailey, that the rumors had been true and that I would take them down carefully, which I was working on right now. The group of Batarians had been particularly idle lately; they've shown up to Aria's club everyday these past three days. Probably scoping out their next victims. I heard a sharp rap on my door, "Come on, Paris, you're on in 5 minutes!" I swiveled my head towards the door, my long black hair that was half tied up gently slapping against my back, "Alright, I'm coming up." Did I forget to mention that I enjoyed changing my name from time to time? For safety purposes of course, this time, it was Paris. Aria wasn't as bad as people thought she was, well, scary if you got on her bad side, but she was a somber, straight to the point woman and I certainly didn't mind her. Matter of fact I think her sarcasm is hilarious. I haven't gotten on her bad side and I don't plan on doing that anytime soon either. When I had first come to Omega, I was brought before Aria immediately, I'll admit I was a little pissed about the extreme formalities but nothing went past Aria's head without her eventually finding out.

She knew right to the point who I was and whom I worked for, I told her my situation and I told her what I planned to do. I thought that being straight to the point and honest with her would keep her and I on a good basis. It has so far and I haven't given her any extreme problems other than a couple of rabid stalkers, which were easily taken care of by Aria's muscle. She pays me for my work as I give her more customers, it was a fine deal and the only rule I had was to not mess with her, and trust me...I want nothing more than to get off of this stupid rock after I found Garrus. Another rap on my door and I sighed, "Alright alright!"

I shrugged out of my robe and tossed it onto my high chair before turning to examine my dancing outfit for tonight. I had 8 hour shifts every week for 4 days a week, the first 4 hours I bar tended and the last couple of hours I danced, taking small breaks in between each show. I was wearing a black and gold outfit. I wore a gold, shimmery bikini top that wrapped snugly around my chest. My whole midriff was exposed and I wore black wide, satin pants that hugged my hips with a gold shimmery band around the waist; the pants splayed out towards my ankles. Anklets jingled whenever I moved and my back flats were comfy and supported my weight and kept me on my feet for hours on end. Part of my back was exposed as the only thing that held up my bra like chest piece was sturdy string covered in little jingling trinkets. I did NOT enjoy dressing like this whenever I had to dance, it was skanky and uncomfortable, not to mention all of the eyes that watched every exposed inch of my body, the amount of men and women that came to this club had doubled ever since I started dancing here. As soon as this was done I was not going to touch another skanky outfit ever again, period. My lips were covered with gloss as I pouted one last time before I left my makeup room.

My hips swung around sharply and slowly, my lips were parted as I breathed calmly and my eyes closed as I enjoyed the loud bass that pounded through my ears and vibrated through my body, my body pumped up and down as the beat got faster and my hips shook faster and faster, my breath hitching in my throat as the loud hoots and whistling got louder and louder as I put on more of a show, bending and twisting my body in slow seductive ways, my eyes half lidded and a mischievous fake smile on my face as I batted my lashes at a handsome man or two. I had been dancing for three songs straight and finally the beat slowed down as my hand trailed down the sides of my chest and down past my hips, the song finally ended and the whole area exploded with whistling and cheering as I bowed along with my male dancers at my side, we had been dancing to a song called Sheila Ki Jawani, a song in Urdu/Hindi, not many people knew it for it was a century old song but it had rallied up many of the patrons, even the male dancers I was dancing with. There had been a lot of touching and sashaying, I had a partner in this song, a Turian, who had been purring at one point when to my hidden disgust we had to rub up against each other, his long arm across my bare waist, his hip had been rubbing up against mine. He was a nice guy, but just a bit touchy, he winked at me and I smirked with a roll of my eyes as I scanned my eyes hurriedly to catch the group of Batarians that were my problem, they seemed to be spread out throughout the circular room.

I caught a few of them who had been watching the show with a hungry look in their eyes. I climbed down off the stage and pretended to head towards my makeup room when I saw one of my Batarian targets speaking to a woman, she looked anxious and scared as she shook her head and began walking away. The trinkets on my back tinkled as I moved closer and closer. Looking behind me and everywhere to make sure no one was watching, how was no one stopping this Batarian? He was basically trying to kidnap in public as he forcefully grabbed the woman's arm and began dragging her out, exiting one of the doors that lead to the small hallway to a private room. She struggled against him, stamping her feet to give him trouble before he used all of his strength and pulled her through the door. I glared, biting into my lip; I shook my head, "Not on my watch."

I had followed after them, slinking in the shadows, god how much I wished that I had my tactical cloak on right now. My anklets and the trinkets on my back jingled EVERYTIME I took a step, no matter how silent it was...leave it to me to pick out an outfit that potentially put me in danger and exposed me to the Batarian that entered the private room. I lifted up my pant leg and pulled out my submachine gun, clasping it tightly in my hands I pointed it towards the ground as I heard the door close behind the girl and the Batarian slaver. I quickly jogged down the hall and stood before the room, unknown to me that a pairs of eyes followed my every move. I took a deep breath before pounding on the door lock, it opened to reveal the two inside, that was strange...why wouldn't he have locked the door? Shit...don't tell me this was...footsteps came heavily down the hall and stopped behind me, I glared and released a sigh, "Really?" The remaining members of the Batarian slavers stood behind me, arms folded across their arms. I was the only one with a gun in my hand until the Batarian before me pulled out a gun and held it up against the woman he had in a choke hold.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here, it seems we've caught little birdy here at the wrong time." I sneered at him, "Let her go, she doesn't belong to you, you can't just continue to kidnap people." The group behind her burst out laughing, "She actually does belong to us dear, don't you see, this was all for you." I furrowed my brows, the gun in my hand lowering a bit before I held it up in his direction, "What are you talking about? Now you're going to just start kidnapping dancers from under Aria's nose?" The Batarian threw his slave bait off to the side, his gun still on her, she squealed, running into the wall, her cheeks stained with her wet tears. "Enough with the lies little girl, we know who you are, you ain't no dancer, you're a spy for C-sec. No use in trying to deny it now sweetie, judging by the look on your face I've hit quite close to home, am I right?" I felt my finger twitch above the trigger and I slightly lowered my gun, "This ends now, you can free your slaves or you can quietly come along with me so you can face your sentence, nice and harm free." He laughed and so did the others, "I've got a better wager, spy, why don't you hush up and come a bit closer, you can give yourself up so that we don't have to shoot our little friend over here." I scowled at him, I bluffed, "What is one waste of a slave going to do when I have the units to get all of them back?" He lowered his gun and stalked towards me, he was smirking disgustingly as he grabbed my waist and pulled me close, my breath hitched in my throat as his lips hovered over my ear.

"Or...I can shoot up that little family you have on the Citadel, don't they live by the Presidium?" My eyes widened and I released a small gasp, he chuckled as his fingers dug deeply into my flesh until I felt him draw blood, I gritted my teeth and growled out, "You're lying, I don't have any family left, there's no one I know that lives on the Presidium." He leaned away and looked at me with those four beady eyes of his, "I hear there's a bounty on your head, I hear a group of mercenaries are looking for ya because you messed up their plans. They happened to be offering a high price for that pretty little head of yours. A little bird in that group told us that there maybe some dear people close to your heart. Why don't you come along with us, avoid some bloodshed?" I looked past him, over at the girl with a determined look, I would get her out of here, she was sniffling but understood the look I gave her, she knew I was about to pull a dangerous stunt. I looked back at the Batarian before me and nodded my head solemnly, "That's a good girl, I think our work here is done boys."

Then I smirked and pulled my head back before head-butting him viciously, he howled out gripping his head before I sent him a sharp upper cut, it threw him on his back and I grabbed the girl before pulling up my gun and shooting a few men out of my way, I jogged backwards as they poured out of the room, I yanked the girl into cover and pulled a pistol from its strap on my left leg, "Easy to shoot with, just aim for their big heads, not that hard to miss. Stay in cover." She hastily took it from me and we both peeked out, there were an overwhelming number of them, even with the two that I had shot down, the one I head butted was on his feet again, cursing my name and ordering them around. They were trying to find a weak spot, as there were multiple entrances to this hallway. I bit my bottom lip and looked at her, "Cover my back, there may be a few coming in behind us, try to shoot any in the front that get too close, okay. We're getting out of this alive." The ginger looked up at me, her freckled face and glassy green eyes shined with determination, "O-okay." She peeked out again, getting a few shots here and there, the hall ahead of us had a door and it slid open, I shot the first one that came in through the head and then the other through the chest.

The final one skimmed my shoulder, I hissed and got back into cover, sneaking closer to the man before I was barreling towards him, I high kicked him and then elbowed into his back before kicking him in the groin, he recovered and swept his leg out, catching me off guard and causing me to fall straight onto my back, I banged my head and the loud ringing echoed through my ears as blurry black spots contorted my vision. He gripped my throat with both hands, attempting to choke me, I gasped, clawing at his hand and trying to use my legs to flip him so that I could be on top, to no avail, he had me pinned and was straddling me. I choked, my eyes watering up as he banged my head into the ground, my vision got dark when the sound of a bullet buzzing through the air caught my attention, the splattering of blood on my cheek made me yelp as the man slumped forward, a bullet hole through the head. I only knew one person who could get it exactly through the center of the forehead. I threw the now dead Batarian off of me and sat up to see a certain Turian in the shadows, "Maha! Are you okay?!" I rubbed my throat, "Yeah I'm okay, stay in cover, we could use that good aim of yours." I knew Turians didn't have a lot of facial plate movement but just by the sound of his voice, he was mad...very mad. A very rare case. "You and me...are going to have a little talk." Oh boy. I scoffed and went back to assist the girl, skidding into cover just as a bullet barely nicked my already bleeding right shoulder. The leader and three others were the only ones left, it looked like Garrus and the young girl got most of them.

I looked back at Garrus and then eyed the door next to him, he nodded and quietly snuck through it, he was going to flank them while I took them head on. I peeked out from my cover and shot one of the three Batarians left through the shoulder, he fell back and the girl beside me hastily shot the other one, the recoil surprising her and causing her to shut her eyes as her wrists took the shock. He was down too. I stood up and aimed at the man's hand and shot the pistol out of his hands. He growled, "You little bitch, wait till I squeeze that perfect little neck of yours." I stood across from him and put a hand on my hip, I held up my gun and smirked, "Don't even bother, you ass." Suddenly he threw a smoke bomb at me and I yelped as everything went white and I couldn't see anything. I squinted my eyes and a fist came colliding into my cheek, and then another right into my gut, I felt the wind get knocked out of me as he kicked me down, everything slowed down for a moment before his foot came crashing down right into my ribs.

Again and again he slammed harder each time, I screamed loudly as I felt a few cracks resonate into my ears, the pain of my ribs breaking blinded me of any coherent thought and he leaned down gripped my face with his hand, he smirked at the blood that swelled up from the cut he gave me on my cheek, it ran down my face, I tasted blood my lips and knew that I had a busted lip that would probably start bruising purple soon. "Imagine how your boyfriend would feel if I stripped these little clothes in front of him and raped you just as he walked in." Fright filled my eyes as the pain took over any logical thought of my mind, tears welled in my eyes and I began shuddering as they spilled down my face, "No...no please." His hand trailed down my exposed stomach towards my legs, I attempted to kick him before dug his finger into the bullet wound on my shoulder, I screamed, "Stop it, please!" He laughed, "Scream for me again and I might be gentle." The door swished open behind us and Garrus came through with a bit of back up on his side, it seemed like he had been able to convince Aria to loan him some of her men, he shot the Batarian through the shoulder and the click of his sniper rifle barely registered in my mind, "She's not going to be screaming for anyone you fucking bastard."

Garrus came at him without any mercy; he sent him a brain jarring punch across the face and then kneed him in the gut before round housing him. The Batarian fell on his ass and attempted to scramble on his back before Garrus set his foot across his throat, "Give me one damn reason why I shouldn't break your neck slowly and painfully." All the Batarian was able to do was gurgle incoherent words as Garrus vehemently began crushing his windpipe. I managed to croak loudly, "Garrus! Garrus don't, Bailey needs him alive." The girl who had been hiding came down to kneel before me, "I'm sorry I knew I should have shot him but I-I was scared an-" I managed to cough out a laugh, "It's…it's okay. Just do me a favor, have one of Aria's m-men take you to The Citadel, go to C-sec and tell them Maha sent you, I want you to tell a man named Bailey where these men have been hiding you and the other girls. C-sec will take custody of that thing over there and they will be a-able to help free the other slaves." The girl nodded rapidly, she was sniffling, "Anything! You saved my life, you gave me freedom." I yelped at the sudden pain wash over me as Garrus came into view. He opened up his omni-tool and applied medi-gel to my wounds, everything grew warm and a nice tingling sensation coursed through my body, "Maha, stay with me. Try to stay awake, I'm here…" He gently scooped me up and held me close as I finally cried openly, "I'm here. You're safe now." The sweet sound of his worried voice slowly blanked out my vision and soothed me to sleep.

I woke up with a start and immediately wished I hadn't, I hissed as my ribs uncomfortably caused me strain. There was a patch across my cheek and I could feel the bruise on my lip. My shoulder was patched and there was gauze covering my slightly exposed midriff. I was wearing a typical hospital gown. Garrus was asleep on my lap, his head against my thighs, I smiled gently, how long had he stayed awake watching over me? My start had woken up Garrus he snapped his head up and quickly sat down on the side of my bed, cupping my cheek, "How are you?" I awkwardly looked down, "I'm okay, a bit busted but okay, how long have I been out and where am I?" He rested his forehead against mine, a gesture he did a lot, "3 days, we got you to Huerta as soon as we hit the Citadel. Aria was generous enough to loan a few of her men to ensure that the girl got here safely and that…that.." This was where Garrus's breath hitched and he snarled before punching the wall next to my head, "I should have just been there! I should have said fuck it to reinforcements and I should have been there for you! N-none of this would have happened!"

I looked at him wide eyed, his eyes were glassy as tears finally fell down his face, he shook his head and looked down, ashamed to look me in the eye. I shook my head; worry lacing my face, my hands rested on the side of his face. I forced him to look at me, "Garrus Vakarian, this was not your fault, you take that back right now! It was a tough situation and we both know that. Please, please for my sake don't blame yourself for this." I rested my forehead on his and shivered, I realized that I had been tearing up; the salty tears ran down my face as I breathed slowly. His gloved talons wiped away at my tears before he held me close, "Please, just don't do that again, I thought I lost you. I can't lose you, not after all that we have already lost." I smiled up at him as he nuzzled my cheek, his mandibles flaring tickled my cheek, "I promise." He leaned back he held my hands gently in his, "It's been so long since I've seen you, I've missed you so much." I nodded my head, "It was strange not being with you...like I lost a piece of my heart." He brought my right hand up to his beak and kissed it, "Why were you on Omega anyway? And those guys? You mentioned Bailey." I slowly told him everything from the beginning, going back to C-sec, working at Aria's club, the mission, and finally, trying to find him. "You are one hard guy to find, Mr. Vakarian, but I've been tracking your little band of heroes." I smiled and he chuckled, "Oh I know you've been tracking us. You may be decent with tech but I'm even better, that's how I was able to track your omni-tool and find you. You still need to work on erasing traces of yourself after you've hacked a system, missy." I looked at him mischievously, he leaned towards me, his hand wrapping lightly around my waist as to not cause harm, "I think you should teach me, big guy..." He nuzzled my neck and I gently arched my head back, allowing him room to explore, "Oh really...hmm..let's hold off on that, why don't you just hold still.." I lifted his face up towards my lips, he leaned in slowly and then I held a finger against his lips when he was only an inch away, "You know, you're going to have to pay for that wall damage." Garrus's blue green eyes flickered up to find mine and he purred gently before brushing his lips against mine, "Hmmmm...later, now shut up and get over here."


	9. Tidbit 9

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #9**

**Maha's POV**

We were bursting through the terrain faster than we had all planned to, my breath hitched in my throat as my lungs begged for air faster than I could breath. My brown eyes darted behind me to survey the group of collectors giving chase after Miranda and I. We got separated from Garrus and Thane, Shepard ran solo after making sure that we had split up, her and her damn curiosity. She was grabbing salvage from the collector ship that that no good Illusive Ass sent us to. It turns out that it was the same hunk of shit that tore apart the original Normandy and had ended Shepard's first life.

The smell of overworking systems on lining and death seemed to give me tipped vision as Miranda gently shoved me forward, "Hurry Maha, they're gaining on us!" She seemed just as exasperated as myself as we ran down the corridor, plasma rifles missing my partner and I by a hair's berth. Miranda's voice was tinged with anger as she huffed out while twisting around and throwing a few biotic shots, "I swear, if my hair gets singed…we'll be having filleted collectors tonight!" I aimed my submachine gun and struck a few collectors, "Miranda, we all love your hair, but this isn't the goddamn time to worry about a bad hair day!" Miranda sped ahead of me as EDI forcefully opened up the enormous doors before us, Miranda pointed to the ledge, "We'll have to jump, Shepard and the others are already on the other side."

The ear piece in our canals buzzed wildly for a moment and then cleared up, we could hear Emily Wong's voice trill with anxiety, "Ladies, you might want to pick it up a bit, they're gaining on you!" I just knew that Emily was watching the video feed through the microscopic cameras she had us wear on missions, I could see her sitting with Joker at the cockpit, worriedly wringing her hands as both of them watched her portable console with wide eyes. I grit my teeth and gained a running start along with Miranda, we grabbed onto the ledge, gathering our bearings for a moment before trying to heave ourselves up. I turned my head to the familiar clicking and trilling of the collectors that were giving chase to us. "Hooolllyy fuuuuucccckkkkk." Just then above us the heavy clicking of sniper rifles reloading rang through our ears. I looked up to find Garrus taking aim and Thane throwing his biotics at the collectors.

Miranda suddenly let out a screech and I snapped my attention towards her, "WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED?!" She kicked her legs around blindly, earning a trill down below, "Oh my god. I think I just got sexually assaulted by a collector. I JUST GOT MY ASS SWIPED BY A BRAINLESS COLLECTOR!" I stared at her for the longest time as we struggled to climb over the ledge, Thane leaned over with a grunt and pulled Miranda up. Despite the serious issue we were currently in I guffawed immediately at Miranda's embarrassed red face, "BWAHAHAHAHAHA, YOU GOT MAN HANDLED BY-" I yelped loudly when I felt a stray, sharp hand caress my backside, "HOLY FUCK, I DON'T THINK SO YOU CREEPY PERVERT!" I turned, took aim, and shot him through the head, the wet sound of brain matter exploding momentarily made me feel triumphant as I felt Thane tug on my arm and pull me up.

~OOO~

I looked over at Garrus who was brooding silently while gently holding my shoulders and twisting me around in different directions, "Does anything hurt?" "No." "Do you feel dizzy?" "No." "Does anything feel out of place?" "No." "Do you feel any soreness?" I sighed after the tenth time he asked me and smiled while putting an end to his anxiety. I rested a palm against his uninjured mandible and laughed quietly, "For the last time Garrus, I'm okay…the only thing that is sore is my dignity." That's when Garrus's mandibles clicked angrily and he scoffed, "The only person who has the right to touch you like that is me." I rolled my eyes and looked at Miranda and Shepard who smirked in my direction. Emily was editing the video feed and Kasumi walked into the observation deck where we were gathered.

Kasumi put a hand under her chin and clicked her tongue, "You know…I never knew collectors even had sexual tendencies…" I groaned loudly and as if Garrus read my mind he allowed me to collapse into his arms and scoff at Kasumi's bluntness. There was a thick silence that followed before Thane cleared his throat and mumbled, "Neither did I…" Joker's voice over the intercom piped up as well, "I know right?! That's insane!" I groaned again into Garrus's armor and he began rubbing gentle circles along my back to soothe me before his hand reached my ass and he jokingly tapped it, "I'm going to cut your balls off, Garrus…" He burst into laughter along with the others before Kelly's voice resonated in the room, "Shepard, the Illusive Man would like a word with you…" Shepard sighed, "That bastard better have a good reason lined up."


	10. Tidbit 10

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #10**

**Tanya's POV**

I stepped out of the women's bathroom, fresh and clean. I had to say, I didn't support or remotely like Cerberus but I did have to thank them for adding gender appropriate bathrooms to the SR-2! I used my mini comb to brush my semi-wet hair as I walked down towards the mess hall, it was slightly crowded, what with it being lunch time after all. I quickly braided my hair with my dexterous fingers and scanned the room with my big blue green eyes, looking for familiar faces. I spotted Emily Wong sitting with Kasumi Goto, they seemed to be chatting adamantly about something. My feet began moving on their own as I headed towards them, "Hey guys, what's up?" They looked up and smiled as I approached them, Emily scooted further into her bench and patted the seat next to her, "Nothing much actually, we were just talking how strange the Collectors are." I smiled and sat down next to Emily looking over at Kasumi as she nodded her head towards me, "Sooo…how are you miss Svirskaya?"

My iridescent gems snapped over to Kasumi as she mischievously smiled at me, her hood partially covered her big eyes but from that large smirk on her face, I could tell she was up to something. "…..I'm okay, uhm, Kasumi, why do I get the feeling that you're up to something and that I won't like it?" Kasumi laughed delicately while Emily just rolled her eyes at the ecstatic thief. "Me? Up to something, oh psshhhh…you're just over reacting." I shot her a deadpan look and folded my arms sternly across my chest, "Right, and what about the last two times I helped you with something and you said that? Remember the cute guy we met at the bar on the Citadel, you wanted me to help you hook up with him and then we ended up trying to get you away from a psychopathic sex addicted asshole?" Kasumi sighed and then pouted as I lectured her, she rested her cheek on her left knuckle and played with the fork in her other hand, "And not only did we have to find a way to get away from him, he found out that we knew who he was and what he was up to, you could have gotten hurt if his other girlfriends hadn't showed up and beaten the living hell out of him."

I didn't even give Kasumi a moment to speak up, I continued badgering her worriedly, if this was another one of her schemes, I wasn't going to help…whenever I seemed to help her, something bad or beyond weird always happened. "And then there was that time where you wanted to steal something valuable from this one drug lord while we were on Illium? We broke into the dude's apartment and ran into him while he was showering, we ended up getting chased around by his mercenaries and I almost fell into a water fountain, trying to get away from that dumb ass mechanical guard dog! Oh…and not to mention I still have that naked dude in my mind, I don't want anyone's naked body traveling through my thoughts…god, I was so scarred." By this point, Emily had been patting my shoulder gently, giggling and shaking her head, Kasumi groaned and then waved a dismissive hand, "Oh come on, we made it out alive and we still got the money from it! You were fiinnneee. Maybe a little wet, and terrified, but fine!" I face palmed and put my head down on the table, chuckling a little bit, "So how is it that I can't manage to stay mad at you for too long?" Kasumi smiled when I looked up at her.

"Maybe that's because I'm Kasumi. Ohhh…and speaking of naked images, I bet the only naked image you want in your mind is Darrin's..huh..huuuuhh…?" She nudged me shamelessly across the table and my cheeks flared up a bright pink. Emily burst out laughing, "Dear lord, Kasumi. Look at her face, she's a bright as a tomato." Kasumi scoffed and shrugged her shoulders, pointing at me, "Well it's probably true! I'm only listing a fact!" I slammed my head gently against the table and groaned, "OH. MY. GOD…KASUMI, YOU TALK TOO MUCH SOMETIMES!" Kasumi laughed and then grabbed my hands, "So! Will you help me or nah?!" I picked up my head and blew a piece of hair out of my face, I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Fine. But just this once." Emily looked at me and shook her head, "If you keep helping her, she'll keep asking you, there's a specific remedy for this…it's called NO." Kasumi waved at Emily and huffed, "Pah! Tanya is too nice for that!" I chuckled and high fived Emily, "That might change soon, Kasumi."

~OOO~

I walked out of the mess hall after a wonderful lunch with Emily and Kasumi, they were still back there, bickering about the attractive men aboard the Normandy, I got out of there before I felt a little too awkward. I wasn't about to get forced into a conversation. I shivered at the thought and decided that I wanted to see my best friend, Maha; I opened up my omni tool and opened up a chat window,

'_Hey girly! Where are ya? I just finished lunch with Kasumi and Emily.'_

A short second later I stood near the elevator just in case Maha happened to be on another floor,

'_Hey babe! I'm actually with Garrus, Thane and Darrin at the Main Battery!' _

'_Alright, that sounds good I'm on my way missy!'_

'_Okay! And tell your boyfriend to keep his ass in gear before I beat him up!'_

I released a loud chuckle before shaking my head and headed towards the Main Battery.

~OOO~

I could hear bickering from outside the double doors to the Main Battery, I sighed loudly and headed towards it, it sounded like Darrin and Maha were having one of their friendly criticizing conversations again. I still didn't understand how they could criticize each other but still laugh about it. I walked past the doors as they swished open to see Thane sitting with his hands on his knees and Garrus leaning against his console with Maha and Darrin near the door, the two were bickering still. Maha's eyes flashed towards me, "Tanya! I'm glad you're here; tell this asshole here that I am NOT flat chested! I have boobs you asshole, if I am clearly bigger than an A cup then that means I have boobs, period!" I exasperatedly sighed, my perfect eyebrows furrowing at the vulgarness of the conversation, I looked at Darrin with steely eyes and he only huffed while folding his arms across his chest. "Oh please, no matter how tight your outfit gets, I still don't see any melons sticking out!" Garrus was cracking up against his console, gently leaning forward before getting a death glare from Maha, he stood straight up cleared his throat, "You know I love you, Maha." She faced him and put her hands on her hips, "Come to my bunker tonight, and I'll kick your ass right out." His mandibles flared and I couldn't help but laugh as I approached her and pulled her into a huge hug, resting my head against her spandex and leather clad shoulder.

I looked over at Thane and rolled my eyes, he only shot me a silent smile as he shook his head and looked over at Garrus, "I think you will be having a very lonely night today, Garrus." Garrus looked over at him, his eyes blinking a couple of times and he shook his head, "Yeah, rub it in why don't ya." He looked back at Darrin and then raised his finger, getting ready to speak his mind before Darrin shot up his arm and laughed, "I already know exactly what you're going to say, and no, you don't count, even if you are an exact witness of her so called boobs." Maha snapped back at Darrin and threw a small piece of bread at him which he easily caught with his mouth. "Look! Can't Tanya be a witness?" Darrin stared at me wide eyed for a second and then looked over at Garrus, they both seemed shocked, especially Garrus. Thane cleared his throat awkwardly and I rolled my eyes. They all had dirty minds, no matter how innocent they looked.

Darrin whispered out in my direction, "So you guys are banging? I KNEW IT, COUGH IT UP GARRUS, THANE!" Maha looked over at Thane and Garrus as they slowly and reluctantly pulled out some credits and handed it over to Darrin, "HEY HEY, YOU ASSHOLES WERE BETTING ON THIS?! OH, MY..GOD." I nodded my head agreeing with Maha, "Yeah, Darrin, that's exactly what it is, we sneak into each other's bunks and we have fun. NO SILLY." I knew exactly what she had been talking about when she had said she wanted me as a witness, Garrus looked at me confused, "So…you guys aren't secretly banging?" Maha sighed, "….NO, what I meant was that we've accidentally hit each other in the boobs before, I say that's proof enough! Tanya, don't I have magnificent bosoms?" I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore as I chuckled out an answer, "Maha, they are beyond gorgeous!" Darrin rolled his eyes as Garrus held out his hand towards him, "Hey, hey, I want my money back!" Darrin smirked as Thane and Garrus waited for him to give them their credits back, "Ha..too late, you guys already handed it to me, it's mine now." The men began bickering wildly about the money; Thane occasionally huffing and shaking his head while Garrus mostly did the talking.

Maha slung an arm around my shoulders and looked at me, "Why are they so stupid?" I shrugged my shoulders and sighed, "I can't even answer that, it blows my mind, really. " Maha nodded her head slowly, "That makes two of us." Maha stepped away from my embrace and got into between them, she yelled heavily, "ALRIGHT ALLLLRRIIGGHHHTT, THE CONVERSATION IS OVER, DARRIN GIVE THE MONEY BACK BEFORE I KICK YOUR CARAMEL ASS TO THE MOON." Darrin huffed sassily before giving his friends their credits back and then looked at Maha with a slight scowl, and then he started laughing, not taking her seriously. "Kick my ass? Try me." Maha snapped back, "Ugh! I can too! Bring it on!" I walked up next to Maha and slung my arm around her shoulder, "I hold him down and you do the beating up?" Darrin stared at me exasperatedly, "You are always taking her side you…meanie, always so biased!" Then after an awkward silence, they all burst into laughter before I hugged Darrin tightly, Maha stood next to Garrus, leaning against his console, "Oi! Oi, it's obviously because she loves me more! Duh!" Darrin waved a dismissive hand in her direction and rolled his eyes before kissing my forehead gently, "You keep thinking that you Turian banging slut." Thane huffed a chuckle and Maha eyed Garrus with a flirty look before he yanked her into his embrace, "Oh, trust me…I am happy with that, so very happy." Garrus leaned his forehead against hers before we all adamantly began speaking up randomly again.


	11. Tidbit 11

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #11**

**Maha's POV**

The heavy thumping of the bass in Afterlife resonated into my eardrums, its energy surged through me and pumped through my veins as I held up a tray with drinks in my right hand and rested my left hand on my exposed left hip. Aria might be the ruler of Omega, but she couldn't handle the club alone, she had a couple of managers and a multitude of bouncers and bodyguards keeping Afterlife in check, she had her own private booth from where she observed the life in the club, I think she just liked to relax here, she did have a whole asteroid on her shoulders. I sashayed over to a table that was filled with a couple of nameless mercenaries, they had their playing cards drawn out, determination on their faces as they focused on winning their earnings for the night. Smoke traveled its way up to my nostrils and I fought hard not to scowl or cough, one of them was balancing a cigar upon his lips. "Here are your drinks, boys. Please do enjoy and if you need anything, just give me a holler or flag me down." I shot them a fake sweet smile before turning on my dangerously high platform combat boots; I'm still surprised that the laces haven't tripped me up yet. A hand grabbed my bare wrist and I whirled around to face one of the younger mercenaries.

"Where are ya going sweetie? I haven't had my fun yet! Why don't you join me? I could use the lady luck! My lap is more than available, darling." I smiled before yanking my wrist back forcefully and holding the dish that had carried their drinks in front of my torso, as if to protect myself. "I'm sorry sir, I would love to, but I'm just a backup waitress, I perform shows in the evening…would you like me to get a private dancer or stripper for you?" I was really fighting that scowl right about now, all I wanted to do was smash this serving tray right across his cocky face but the managers insisted that until they actually harass me, I would not be allowed to act upon their attempts. I leaned all of my weight on my right hip as the man visibly frowned, "But I don't want them, I want you. Aren't you ladies and men supposed to please the customer?" I wanted so badly to roll my eyes at this drunken ninny but I held back a heavy sigh, "Again, I am sorry sir, but I am only following the rules and regulations of my line of work, the offer of finding a dancer or stripper still stands, I have no qualms about getting one for you, would you like me to do that for you sir? We have quite a collection of young ladies here that would love to help." I don't know what else I could say, if that couldn't get through his drunk, thick skull, then I don't know what will.

The man was visibly angry now, his face suddenly burst into a light shade of red and he clumsily snapped out of his chair, he faced me now and then grabbed me by the waist and forcefully pulled me in. Didn't this count as sexual harassment? I'd like to think so. I gave him one last chance, "Sir, I'm going to ask you nicely…release me now or I'll have to take matters into my own hands." One of the older mercenaries yanked at the boy's arm, "Lad, what the hell do you think you're doing? The lady told you…now stop being so goddamn stupid and let her go about her work. Get over here, you big stupid log." The boy violently yanked away his free arm and the old mercenary backed away slowly, looking at the boy and then me, I smiled in the older man's direction and shook my head, giving him a cocky smirk. "That's quite alright sir, I warned him multiple times, I can take it from here." I turned my attention towards the boy and shoved him away violently before holding up my serving tray and smashing it directly into his face, a sickening crack rang into my ears and satisfied, I stepped away as he howled at the sudden pain his now broken and badly bleeding nose caused him. "AHHH, FUCK. YOU BITCH, WHAT THE HELL?!" I looked down at the tray; there was bright red blood that almost looked black in the lighting splattered on its surface, "Awh, you got blood all over the tray." He lazily snapped back up, throwing an uncoordinated punch in my direction, I easily dodged him and sent him a brain rattling round house kick with my platform boots, they had dull spikes on the end for this kind of convenience, oh how much I loved them. The boy slumped onto the table, finally unconscious, rattling the drinks wildly before the other mercenaries grabbed them and looked up at me, "Take his drunk ass home and don't bring him back until he learns how to follow the rules Aria and Afterlife have given to all of its patrons."

I grabbed the serving tray and whirled around on the heels of my boots, I clacked confidently past a few astonished customers who soon went back to chattering, their eyes following my mostly bare back as my long thigh cut black dress trailed after me. It hugged my hips and backside, showing my true curves, the black making my body stand out. It was a pretty dress, don't get me wrong, the partial cuts in the sides that exposed my waist and most of my back were annoying, but I dealt with it, at least this wasn't as bad as my stage outfits. A shiver traveled down my spine as my long and flat-ironed hair tickled my waist. The dress was sleeveless and it was held up by a strap that wrapped around my neck, another strap that wrapped around my back as it held together the exposed part of my torso. It was a simple dress, black with no other patterns or designs. The other strippers and dancers decided that they wanted to wear flashy and pretty dresses today; one of them even took me out shopping. Thus, this is how the dress became to be.

One of Aria's bodyguards, a Turian by the name of Grizz, strode over towards me…he seemed to always have a scowl on his stoic faceplates. He looked over at the bar I was leaning against and then back at me, a sigh escaped him and he looked back up at me with hooded eyes, I looked around and then back at him, taken slightly aback. "What?" He was easy enough to get along with, he had an attitude but was mostly serious and wasn't one for much talking unless something really interested him. He got annoyed easily at times and ignored me from time to time when I would approach him but he bared me, and sometimes even looked out for me when there was trouble amiss. "Remind me to never get on your bad side." His flanging trill rang in my ears over the thumping music and I released a small laugh and raised an eyebrow in his direction, "Okay, don't get on my bad side or I'll kick your ass." He scowled at my coy expression and rolled his eyes, "Never really gets old watching you beat your own patrons when they get too touchy, I'll give you this, you make standing in one spot interesting sometimes." I giggled and shrugged my shoulders, "I think I've developed a knack for entertaining you while you're bored, you're welcome I suppose." He nodded his head, tapping his taloned hands on the counter before I looked at the bartender who pointed at a few customers who were waiting for their drinks, I handed the bartender my blooded serving tray. He sighed and looked at my direction before I shot him a wink and took the new serving trays with the drinks on them. I turned to look back at Grizz and blew a piece of inky black hair out of my eyes, "Well, it was nice talking to ya, better get back to work, mister!" He scowled at me and stretched his sore limbs, "Fuck you, Paris." I looked back at him, my arms currently occupied, "Oh, you wish, Grizz."

~OOO~

The beautiful and charming azure Asari before me chattered on aimlessly as we sat at the bar, both currently on our breaks. Her short dress was flashy, sequins on the sides of her body reflected off of light easily and distracted me as I admired the shade of cream she wore. Her heels clicked restlessly as her long legs were able to reach the floor even in her bar stool, mine on the other hand, even with my huge boots, still did not touch the floor. Her name was Miryrphea Dantiros, but she preferred Phea. Her lightly lined lids blinked widely as she went on about a story of a patron she had privately danced for, explaining how he and his friends had even given her a big tip and were respectful at the same time. The mascara that coated her lashes was thick and they brought out the light green of her orbs and the pink of her lips. She was beautiful, maybe a little more than the common Asari standards. "Sometimes working at these dingy places can be surprising." Her femininely raspy voice snapped me to focus, which had been previously on the drink in my hand. "Well, the only enlightening experiences I've had so far are kicking the asses of my more rowdy customers, even when I'm being super nice and respectful, they don't want anything more than the rather obvious." Phea laughed gently, patting my shoulder, "Well, Paris, that's why we have bouncers and body guards, but you're always taking matters into your own hands! Speaking of which, I never asked…how the hell did you learn to fight like that?" I was sipping on my drink when I suddenly stopped, coughing slightly as the bitter taste lodged into my throat, "Uhmm…I've taken some classes in the past…you know, just the usual." Phea raised a suspicious ridge at me, where her brows were suppose to be, "Uh-huh." She waved her hands and then pulled out a note that was in the pocket of her dress, "Oh, I almost forgot to give this to you, weird huh? A note for you…on paper. He said he knew who you were, do you know any Turians…well…other than Grizz?"

My eyes quickly snapped up at her and a toothy smile leapt onto my currently matte lips. The color was not their usual natural pink, but was a dark blood red color, which looked almost black in the lighting of Afterlife. Phea smiled gently at my childish excitement, "I take that as a yes? How long has it been?" I looked back at her, despite being here only for 4 months, she had rubbed off on me with her delicate yet fiery personality, I could tell by her aura, she was a good person. "…How'd you know I haven't seen him in a while?" A thoughtful look crossed her delicate features before she tapped my nose with a tiny smirk, "Because! I haven't seen you smile that hard, not once in these past months that I have danced alongside you. A girl can sense when another girl is missing something, we Asari happen to have our senses anyway, but girl to girl, we can tell. You know what I mean?" I looked at her a blank feature crossing my young face, but then I smiled widely at her, "Yes. I understand. Thank you so much for giving this to me, it means so much. It's…It's been too long." I blinked my eyes as they grew glassy; I absolutely refused to cry, not today, not now. "I'll admit, the human-turian coupling is a little…unique, but it has been getting popular nowadays, I'm not that surprised. Go on, read the note! Maybe he wants to meet you somewhere."

I hastily nodded and opened up the small slip of paper with feverish hands, my black painted nails scuffing the edge of the sheet, leaving a small chalky trail.

'_Private room booked, meet there. –S'_

I furrowed my brows, S? What? I'm sure Garrus started with a 'G'. Maybe he did that for identity purposes? After all, I have been tracking a group of vigilantes that were here on Omega, butting heads purposely with the mercenary bands. I landed here on Omega because of a C-Sec mission but I didn't just take the job for that sole purpose, I had a feeling…a warm gut feeling that Garrus may be here on Omega too. I've heard rumors and I've been hacking into the private accounts of those vigilantes, I was careful not to leave any traces of myself so hopefully I haven't been caught. I just hoped I was right otherwise I knew I my heart would sink pitifully. Phea must have caught the confused look on my face, her eyes narrowed with worry as she leaned down and looked into my deep brown eyes, "What's wrong?" I snapped up, blinking rapidly, "Oh! Nothing…I'm just, overwhelmed is all. I better get to that private room, he's booked it apparently." Phea's smile grew smug and she nudged my shoulder suggestively, "Ouuuu….look at you, a private room just for the two of you! Don't go wild, we want you back here in time for your performance, missy!" I laughed nervously, my gut wrenching tightly at the nervousness flitting around in the back of my mind. "I'll try to behave, but no promises!" Phea waved me off before turning her attention back to her drink, I clenched the note tightly in my hand and looked around before heading down the lone hall towards the private room that could be booked at a high cost.

~OOO~

The console was green; I stared at the door with narrowed eyes. There was a thick knot stuck in my throat, I felt like I was choking slowly and painfully. I released the shuddering breath that I didn't know I was holding. Could it really be him? Could Garrus really be here? It had been so long, so damn long since we all got separated during the destruction of the Normandy. I had gotten in contact with Tali, Darrin, Tanya, and Kaidan…but Garrus? I hadn't been able to find him. It was like he had wiped himself completely off of the grid. So, what was I afraid of? Maybe he knew I was here on Omega, maybe he wanted to meet with me? Had he gained enemies, was that why there was so much of this suspicious secrecy? I gulped and pressed my hand on the console, the door clicked open. It was dark and I squinted, trying to fight against the dark as I searched for any signs of movement or the outline of a figure. I couldn't see anything as the door remained opened behind me, a few tendrils of light leaked in but the hallway wasn't all too bright either. "…Garrus? Is that you?" This could be a trap for all I know, I could have walked into a trap that some strange person set up for me. There was a movement, from the corner of my eyes, I snapped my head in that direction, the movement had been deliberate…it was made to alert me of a presence. I gulped again and faced the inky shadow.

It was large and it towered near me, it was an outline that was what seemed like it was shaped as a Turian. "Garrus, please answer me if that's you, this isn't funny. I'll kick your ass if it is you and if you're yanking my chain." Finally the dim lighting flashed on and I shielded my eyes, squinting at the sudden blindness that dotted my vision. I lowered my hands and the breath was literally knocked out of me. Cybernetic blue-purple orbs stared back at me and there was that ever-present scowl on his face, the same scowl that never seemed to leave him. It was etched into his features, forever plaguing him. He was leaning against the wall near me, his long arms folded tightly across his leather-clad chest. He wore all black leather armor, the cowl still adorned his head and shaped the horns that protruded so far out of his face, his jaw and mandibles were still fashioned with glowing blue metal plating, making his razor sharp teeth even more intimidating. I realized that my mouth was slightly agape and closed it; my throat was scratchy as I was fought for words. "Saren."

He never stopped watching me as he sat down on one of the couches, his arms resting on his long legs. He looked up at me and nodded sternly, "It has been a while, human." I gulped and clasped my hands over my chest nervously, what was he doing here? I never expected to see him again, not after we saved him from Sovereign…not after he listened to Shepard's reason and broke himself free from Sovereign completely. I remembered him and the turmoil that he brought about the Normandy when he had placed himself in the vessel, so many lingering death glares and so many shocked faces. He fought so hard mentally and emotionally; breaking from Sovereign's indoctrination hadn't been easy. If Shepard hadn't been there to continuously drill him and coax him into fighting the indoctrination, he would have most likely died at the attack on the Citadel when Shepard fought the Geth to the main control panel. If she hadn't stopped Sovereign that day, Saren would have been lost forever, and so would have everyone else…slaves to the sentient beings called Reapers. The scary part? They were coming…not just one, not two…millions. God knows, maybe even billions upon billions.

I suppose I had played a small part in helping Saren as well. I hated him, I'll admit it, I had hated him so fucking much for all of the shit he had pulled. For all of the things he had done and for all of the people and innocent beings he had killed…and…for Ashley. I had hated him so much because of that, when Shepard had spoken out against him that fateful day, when they had almost tore each other apart and killed each other, I had realized something…it wasn't entirely his fault. He had fallen prey to indoctrination and he hadn't even realized it. Shepard saw through this and wanted to help him, despite his vehement attitude towards humans and his overall mental unstableness. It was then that I realized…he was alone, he was alone and he was trying to break free, he wanted to atone and he had followed Shepard and he had done everything she had told him. He had fought so hard for his mind and he had broken the bounds of indoctrination when Sovereign was destroyed. I had helped; I had helped Shepard in her quest for Saren's freedom. I may not have seen it at first but then I realized that he deserved a second chance, everyone deserved second chances and he was so willing to make amends, he was so eager to show that he wanted nothing to do with the Reapers and that he was no longer indoctrinated. I remember taking shifts with the others and Shepard when we had Saren strapped down to a stretcher in the old med bay. He would struggle and growl and roar with pain and confusion as he feverishly fought for his mind. I found myself pitying him, wanting to help him…despite Garrus's obvious hatred towards Saren. He was not happy when I openly supported Saren.

Saren, despite being annoyed with my constant badgering during my time with him while the original Normandy still stood strong, slowly…but surely began opening himself up to me. He still had called me human or annoying pest all the time, but he had started to bare me. Often times he would walk out when I was being overly ridiculous as Darrin would put it or he would just sit there and listen to me talk, occasionally teasing me for being overly optimistic or hyperactive. He may be a harsh man, but he had a…soft side I suppose, I had seen it. Saren had gone through what he had, because he was afraid for organic life…he was afraid and he thought the only way to make the Reapers think twice was to forge alliances with them and hope for the best, hope that he could somehow save organics and convince them to follow the Reapers so that they could be spared. His thoughts were noble…but the Reapers were sly, devious, and manipulating assholes…and there was no reasoning with them.

"Are you just going to stand there gawking or are you going to say something?" I snapped my head out of the trance I had entered and focused my vision on the pale colored Turian. He had his hands clasped together on his knees and stared at me with an obvious sneer that slightly scrunched up his faceplates. I quietly cleared my throat and walked over towards him and sat down in the couch directly across from him, finally, I mustered up the strength to look up at the calmly quiet Turian. "…I was just…thinking, is all." He leaned forward, his glowing eyes never leaving my figure, "About?" I sighed deeply, finally feeling the turmoil pass through me, I sagged in the chair pathetically and shook my head, smiling gently. "…just, everything. Everything up until now." He looked down at the ground and growled, "Thinking constantly about it will do nothing but cause mental stress…" I looked up at him, my brows downcast and my eyes glassy, I sniffed and nodded my head. I looked at my nails and then back up at him, "…Can you hear them, do they still whisper in your mind?"

Saren looked up at me, his eyes held mine for what seemed like forever before his flanging voice softly whispered out against the dark, "Yes. I can." Then his browplates furrowed angrily and he snarled in my direction, "And no, they no longer hold my mind in their clutches. I merely just here them. They are just whispers in the back of my mind." I raised my hands defensively, "I was just curious, I didn't mean to make you upset." He released a ragged sigh, his armored talons digging into the couch; it unsettled me just a little that they could still scratch up the couch. I visibly swallowed, his damn senses catching a whiff of my current turmoil.

"I smell fear on you human, there's nothing to worry about, I'm not here for that." I looked up at him, defiance crossing my deep brown eyes, "I-I wasn't scared! There's no scared on my face, does this look like the face of a scared woman?!" I looked at him with a goofy smirk and he exasperatedly shook his head, "…you have changed in the past months." I stopped smirking and cocked my head to the side, "…Uhm, what is that suppose to mean? Is there something you aren't telling me, Arterius?" It was his turn to grow visibly uncomfortable, he dug his talons deeper into the couch and I stood up, and huffed. My legs found themselves sauntering over to him and gripping his hand, "OI, those couches ain't cheap, I'll get in trouble for this you ass!" He suddenly gripped my hand; it wasn't painful, just firm. I looked into his eyes, he was only inches away from my face, "Hiding the obvious doesn't change my statement." I stared at him deeply before flickering my eyes away; he still didn't release my hand. I looked back at him and raised a defiant eyebrow, catching onto a possibility. "Have you been watching me, Saren?"

He looked away and released my hand, the visible closeness confused me, he hated humans, and he made no effort to hide that. His obvious silence and discomfort just confirmed my suspicions and I exasperatedly flopped my hands in the air, "Seriously? You couldn't just approach me like a normal organic being?! Do you know how hard it is for me to see Darrin and Tanya?! I'm always here or at home, the only time I get to see them is when I report back to the Citadel to Bailey! The only other time I get to see them is through video chatting and that's not the same! I haven't seen a familiar face in a while and I've constantly been worrying about my friends and the ones I care about, I miss everyone and I miss Shepard and I miss Garrus and I missed you." My ranting was finally cut off when I heard my voice visibly crack with defeat, I crouched down onto the floor, steadying my breathing and fighting the tears that lingered in my eyes.

Saren grabbed my arm and yanked me up, he sighed exasperatedly and looked at me with a deep scorn. I flinched and looked away, "I…I'm sorry, I've just been so scared for everyone and so lost. I didn't realize my own personality was changing. It's only been a few months, am I really that weak?" Saren watched me as I wrung my hands nervously and tried to steady my breath, he sighed again. His hand went up to his forehead and he rubbed it silently, "I know this has been hard on you, girl, just..just stop crying, it's giving me a damned headache." I sharply looked up at him, shock and surprise clearly spread across my features. My now wide eyes looked at him, his hand covered his eyes but he peeked at me with annoyance clear in those cybernetic enhancements that saw everything and cut through the darkest corners, "What?" He's tone was snappy and sharp, his mandibles clacked tightly against his jaw. I smirked slightly and wiped gently at my eyes, "Are…are you worried for me, Arterius?" That's when he snapped his mandibles against his jaws and huffed, turning away from me, "Slap that smug grin off of your face before I change my mind." I raised my arms defensively, a chuckle releasing itself quietly, but nothing was unheard by Saren's Turian senses, he growled, "And stop laughing, it's still annoying when you do that."

I looked at him, my smiling stopped and I looked worriedly down at the ground again, my eyebrows scrunching with thought once more. What if I didn't find Garrus, or worse…what if he was caught prisoner somewhere or for all I knew what if he was dead. Dread filled my every cavity and I strained my eyebrows just thinking about it. A firm but hard tapping against my forehead made me jump out of my thoughts again, I looked up to see Saren tapping his talon gently between my brow, "This look does not suit you, it makes your flesh look ugly." I deadpanned him and folded my arms across my chest, "Gee, thanks Saren." He gave me a cocky smirk that he often would used to do when he found himself feeling dominant or superior, "So, stop fretting idiotically about that pup, we will eventually cross paths with him." I looked at him my mouth slightly agape, "We?" He paused, knowing that this will start a whole new round of teasing, "...Yes." I walked around him in a circle until I stood in his line of sight, staring straight up at his towering figure, "Damn Arterius, I didn't know that there was a 'we' in your dictionary." He snapped his mandibles and bared his teeth at me and I only huffed mockingly at him, "Don't make take back what I said."

I smirked at him once more before my eyes flickering around the room, observing it silently. As I looked around, I didn't realize the Turian had been sneaking silent looks at me, his eyes trailing the length of my body. Saren stared at her long and hard, she confused him in the strangest of ways and that clothing that she wore left almost little to imagine...not that he was imagining anything about her, she was human for Spirits sake, he hated humans...despised the youngest race of the galaxy for their feverish attempts to appease and prove themselves. And yet, he found the company of this one...bearable. She was not like a lot of the humans he had met in his life time, her eyes held life and she laughed jovially, always cackling when he had been aboard the Normandy, so many times he had snapped at her for laughing so hard and being annoying in general...he hadn't come to realize that she had somehow settled into his thoughts quietly, she had snaked into his life unnoticed by him and he did not mind. He had stupidly even tracked her down and sought out her company like some lost pup. It disgusted him and he growled loudly, she clouded his judgment and he hated it.

I snapped my attention back at him when I heard him growl, he shook his head as if some unwanted thoughts flitted through his mind, I raised my eyebrows suggestively at him, "Everything okay there?" He glared in my direction, closing the gap between us until I could feel his body heat. "Fine. Now stop asking questions." I could feel my heart hammering in my chest at his sudden closeness and smirked coyly, his impatience was always fun to test. "So...you've been following me?" He turned around, snapping away from me, "Did I not just ask you to stop asking me such trivial questions?" I hummed gently and stood on the toes of my boots, my arms folded across my back childishly as I waited for a proper response.

He turned towards me as I flopped down on the couch my legs spread out on the expensive coffee table, exposing my toned tan legs. He stared at me for a while before he folded his arms across his chest, "I merely sought out your company because you gave me company even when I pushed you away...even when I had hurt you physically…" He paused for a moment, thinking his words through, "For that I am in an unfortunate debt to you." I smiled at the context behind his wording, "So you basically missed me and you're thanking me? Are you concerned about me, Saren?" He glowered deeply at me and I resisted the urge to burst out laughing, "Damn. This must be an all time low for you, huh?" He shook his head; grabbing his temple again, "Laugh it up, human."

I stood up from my seat and walked up to him, my dark red lips parting slightly as I looked into his orbs, "But are you concerned for me?" His silence confirmed my thought and I cocked my head to the side, "Why?" He growled lowly, "...it...it just showed up. I do not know how nor do I care. I am merely returning a favor. You and Shepard approached me and gave me a second chance when no one else was willing to, not even that Turian pup, my own kind." I looked at him and smiled warmly, a smile I hadn't felt in a long time, "I appreciate it, Saren, thank you." He grunted silently before looking in my direction, he closed the gap between us and then I looked down nervously, "I...I just want to find Garrus, I want to know who else is out there, he is my first priority." A viscous growl ripped through Saren before I felt my back slam forcefully into the wall behind me.

"That pup? He is nowhere to be found. Here is his apparent partner, alive and concerned for him and where is he? Canoodling with mercenaries while his female companion throws herself into dingy little clubs like this in order to keep tabs on him. Do you not find it a little strange that instead of him it is I that is watching your back and making sure no harm gets in your way?" I stared at him, shocked and wide eyed. Why did he care so much? What was his fucking deal?! Why did, whenever I brought up Garrus, did he get frustrated and angry? He glared down at her, finding himself disgusted for guiltily appreciating her curvy dark red lips, slightly parted in confusion. Why did he find himself appreciating those dark eyes that were filled with what these females called 'mascara'? She was infatuating and he despised her for it. This human, this thing, she was worming her why into his mind and he hated her for it.

"Why are you so infuriating? You and Shepard, why do you both put other people before yourselves? Why did you both trust me?!" I snapped, finally screaming with confusion lingering in my voice, he could hear her heart beat fluttering in its chamber, "BECAUSE EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE YOU ASS! Now back off!"

Saren stared down at me, he sighed deeply before closing his eyes and shaking his head, his grip on my wrists loosened and he moved his body off of mine, realizing that his had been tightly pressed against hers. "...I'm...sorry. I did not mean to snap." I stared at him, my eyes widening, "Are you apologizing?" He sighed again and finally, after what seemed like a pin drop silence, he slowly lowered his forehead onto mine. I gasped lightly and it had caught his attention, "…Shut up."

I closed my eyes for a moment, the warmth of his forehead resonating towards me, "Saren...I..I don't think this is appropr-" he moved away quickly, his dark scowl returning again as I backed away from the wall. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, "I have seen you dance."

I looked back at him, clearly surprised by the sudden outburst, "Huh...have you?" He smirked finally, which unsettled me quietly as I leaned on the arm of the couch, "You do not leave much room for imagination..._Paris_." I rolled my eyes as he emphasized on my fake name, "Next time, just come up to me when you wanna talk." He folded his arms across his chest, his mandibles fluttering lightly while he thought, "You're such a silent stalker, Saren, even watching me dance without me knowing...damn...this is really surprising, Arterius." He growled deeply in my direction, "You continue to test my patience." I smirked and put my hands sassily on my hips, "I'll stop if you, once we find Garrus, talk to him into coming up with a sort of peace treaty between you guys because it's fucking annoying watching you two fight for no reason."

He sighed deeply, his talons rubbing against his temple. She really had no idea did she? Garrus and Saren have a bad relationship to start with due to their clashing personalities and Saren's tainted past, not only did that come into the mix, but the young human female that supposedly belonged to Garrus had wormed her way into Saren's mind which Garrus easily caught onto and did not agree with, he wanted Saren to stay away from her and their need to prove who's dominance for her was stronger confused her for she still had no idea that they partially fought over her. Often butting heads to the point where Shepard would throw them into sparring matches against each other to work out their frustrations. Maha had been recently marked by Garrus it seemed as well, near where the shoulder connected with her arm, showing other aliens that Garrus's pheromones were all over her and that she was his. The teeth marks scarred her otherwise soft flesh and she made no effort to hide it. To Turians, this was a challenge, a challenge that Saren would gladly oblige to. He would fight for dominance with Garrus and he would show that pup where he belonged.

"No promises." It wasn't an entire no so I took it as a kind of yes, "Good enough. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my duties." He stopped me suddenly, "Hold it." He pulled up his omni-tool and clicked away for a few seconds before he motioned towards my arm. I pulled up mine curiously and he tapped a few times again before my omni-tool blipped, "There, now we have exchanged contact info. If you need to come in contact with me for any reason, I will be around." A thoughtful look passed over my face before I smirked, "So...if I'm shopping and I find an awesome pair of shoes and I need an opinion, will you respond?" The door to the room clicked open and he huffed, "I am leaving. See yourself out." I yelled after him, "I TAKE THAT AS A YES!"


	12. Tidbit 12

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit #12**

**Maha's POV**

My heeled boots clicked confidently down the hall as I saluted a passing marine; he paused and respectfully saluted me back. My black spandex tights smoothly moved along with my body comfortably as I flowed towards the Mess hall. Darrin strode out of the bathroom and nodded his head in my direction, "What did Kasumi say she wanted?" I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, she said she just wanted to hang out a little bit." My sore shoulder brushed against my large billowy shirt briskly and I fought every thing within me to not wince and give myself away. Sharp teeth marks flawed my smooth skin and made lifting my arm a bit of a nuisance because the slightly pink flesh wound was near the socket of my arm. Despite being marked nearly two years ago, it still gave me discomfort...but that was probably because Garrus had recently clamped down over that scar again. I did everything I could for now to hide it because if people found out, I was going to get badgered and teased until I grew old and couldn't walk any longer. It stretched from near the middle of my collarbone and down; it was going to be hard to keep it hidden. Garrus insisted that I get it checked by Mordin just in case but I had refused and finally gave into his badgering when he insisted that he at least apply medi-gel and dress the wound about three nights ago.

Garrus had explained to me the meaning of the bite when we had gotten a bit…ahem…carried away all those months ago, right before the original Normandy was blown to bits, in the midst of our heated passion he had leaned over and clamped down hard, sinking his razor sharp teeth deep into my flesh. The mixture of pain and pleasure had been a strange concoction of excitement, but it had caught me off guard.

Afterwards, as we lay huddled against each other, he had toyed with my hair and explained how it meant that he had chosen me as his bond mate; he stated that it was the equivalent to humans getting married. He explained of course that he wouldn't consider us two married until he gave the human tradition a try and popped the question and got down on one knee like the humans did, he had merely stated that he had made his mark so that other species would know that I was rightfully his. He said that other Turians and species alike would be able to smell his pheromones and they would see me as his territory. He had looked at me though, with furrowed brow plates and had told me to be careful too. While to other species I may have been off limits, to other Turian males though, I was a challenge. I was a prize to be won if there were any other Turians out there interested in me. Turians were not ones to give up easily and he had told me to be careful around other males of his species, "I don't want anyone else looking at you that way, your eyes are meant for mine and mine only." He had said wistfully that night. I had smiled, honored that he even considered me as his bond mate, I would keep the mark hidden until it healed properly again and no longer gave me any trouble...then, I would wear it proudly again after the pinkness of the flesh wound settled down.

Darrin snapped his fingers in my face, he sighed exasperatedly, "Hey, Earth to miss flat chested? Kasumi is waving us over, hurry your ass up!" I glared at him and playfully swatted his arm, "Calm your tits, I'm coming!" I was surprised to see Mordin sitting there across from her, sipping on a glass of water. He usually never left the lab, which meant if anyone wanted to socialize with him they'd usually have to do a bit of badgering and some walking. Jacob was sitting next to Kasumi and I was even more surprised to see Liara sitting with them too. I walked up to their table and patted Mordin's shoulder, "Nice to see you outside of your little hidey hole mister!" He looked up at me, a coy smile spreading across his scarred features, "Ah! Maha, Darrin. Pleasure to see you. Standing in one spot became…problematic. Decided to take a break, saw Kasumi, took the opportunity to sit down." His voice dabbled on quickly as usual, as if he was always hyped up on coffee. His hyperactivity was endearing to me and Mordin wouldn't be who he was without it. Darrin chuckled and shook Liara's extended hand, which she held towards me too, "Well, look at what we have here, Miss Shadow Broker skipping out on her duties?" I laughed and added in to Darrin's teasing, "The stress scaring ya already?" Liara rolled her magnificent blue eyes at Darrin and waved us off, "Oh hush. Shepard badgered me into visiting and Feron insisted I take a break from my research, which brings me here. I've been making rounds and catching up with the others. It is good to see Tali and Garrus again. Garrus is still calibrating I see." I laughed gently and raised a hand, "Liara, when is he not?" Darrin playfully nudged my side and raised his eyebrows suggestively at Liara, she put a hand up to her mouth and attempted to hold back her laughter, "Ha, right, he's not when he's too busy banging you." I snapped my head in his direction, exasperated by his vulgarness and the bluntness of his attack, "That is so not true! God, scream it to the world why don't ya?" Liara's soothing giggling stopped our bickering and she rested her hands on the table, "Oh dear, how I've missed you two! These little arguments of yours never seem to get old." Jacob chuckled and nodded his head while he expertly shuffled some cards Kasumi handed him, "Heh, you can say that again."

Liara looked towards Darrin again, "How's Tanya? Where is she by the way? It would be nice to see her before I retuned back to the Broker's ship." Darrin smile beamed brightly at Liara as he took the cards that Jacob had given each of us. "She's doing great! She was just telling me yesterday how much she missed your endless Protheon ranting. I think she's actually with Miranda right now, she wanted to share some biotic tips with her so they're probably in the training room right now." Liara smiled and looked down at her cards, "Then I shall be sure to see her before I leave." He nodded and looked down at the colorful cards with slight confusion, "What the hell are we playing anyway?" Before Jacob could speak Kasumi piped up excitedly, "Go fish!"

I looked over at Kasumi with a deadpan expression, "...Go fish? Really? Why can't we play something like Poker?!" Jacob raised a hand, "I think I prefer Strip Poker." Darrin and Jacob cracked up as they clamped their hands together in victory, I looked at them and snapped, "Ha ha ha, very funny, you guys would love that very much wouldn't you?" Kasumi looked over at Jacob as he busily sorted his cards and then looked at Liara and the rest of us while Mordin busily tapped away at his omni-tool. "Hey...I sure as hell would not mind..." Then she looked at Jacob when he looked up, unknown to the fact that Kasumi found him very attractive, she shot him an innocent smile, "Mhhmm…not at all." I rolled my eyes while the others snickered at Jacob's confusion. I waved at her, "Ugh, I think we should just stick to Go Fish."

Darrin looked over at Mordin, he was still tapping at his omni-tool, "You playing too, Mordin?" He clicked a few times before looking up at us, "Negative. Too busy with seeker swarm data. Might be coming to a breakthrough. Too much work. No I will not be joining you." Liara shook her head before Jacob shrugged, "And I thought i had to be bugged into having fun." Kasumi looked at him and chuckled, "If I'm not mistaken, I did have to annoy you to get you out of the armory." Liara gently laughed before looking at Mordin, "Why not just loan us a little bit of your time? I do not know how to play Go Fish but I'll still be joining and learning as I play." I piped up, "Yeah! Come on Mordin! The breakthrough can wait for a little bit longer!" Mordin sighed before closing his omni-tool, "Fine. One round. I will warn you now, I am very good at Go Fish." I snapped out of my chair and pointed at Mordin, "HA HA! I AM TOO I AM THE MASTER, I will beat you!" Mordin merely gave me a sneaky smirk as Jacob handed him some colorful cards, "Challenge accepted." I lowered myself into my seat, noticing how my outburst had gotten the attention of a few of the other patrons in the mess hall.

Darrin looked at me and whispered, "You suck at Go Fish...the hell you talking about?" I waved him off and whispered back, "Maybe I'll get lucky, now hush." Jacob raised a hand and gave us a toothy smile, "How about we play for credits? Last one standing wins the earnings after every round. And I suggest you throw in your credits wisely unless you're a "master" like Maha or Mordin." No one doubted Mordin, he never failed to surprise so when he said he was good at Go Fish, I wasn't even gonna question that so I knew that comment was stabbed more towards me. My smile dropped and I whimpered out, "Aaahhh...credits?" Liara shrugged her shoulders and smiled gently, "I suppose it'll make the game more interesting. Why not?" Mordin suppressed a chuckle, "More credits, more fun. I agree." I visibly gulped as Jacob released a satisfied smile, "Then it's settled. A full book consists of having 4 identical cards; the player with the most sets of books after every game gets the credits. If there is a tie, the two players have to enter sudden death and will play all of their earned credits until there is one winner." Darrin chuckled quietly and leaned down to whisper at me, "Ha. Now you're fucked." I lowly growled in his direction before putting my colorful deck of 5 in order from highest card to lowest. Kasumi piped up, her being to the left of Jacob, the dealer, she pulled up her cards first, "Alright! I'll go first, let's see. Darrin, can I please have all of your...hmm...7's?" Darrin chuckled, "Ha! Go Fish!" Kasumi sighed before picking up a card from the undealt stock, "Ah, crap." She looked at the card and grumbled, it obviously wasn't the one she wanted so she looked up at Darrin as he hummed thoughtfully. He looked down at me and I glared giving him a silent, 'Don't you even dare.' He smirked, "Maha, can I have all of your 3's?" I looked down at my deck and winced, it was as if he knew I had two 3's, I could have already been on my way to making a book! I growled and snatched them out from my deck,"Fuck you." He grabbed them from me with a smug smirk and earned another turn.

It was the third game already and I had lost around 100 credits. A hundred...fucking...credits. Jacob looked at me as I huffed in my seat, "So much for being the "master", huh?" I looked up at him, searching through my endless stack of cards, I might even have the whole undealt stock in my hands, "Keep talking and you'll find your ass glued to your bed when you wake up tomorrow." This earned a whole round of laughter from the table we sat at; even Mordin released a sly huff. He was after all, the one with the most credits. I looked at him and shook my head, "Damn Mordin, you don't bluff." Kasumi had her hood down, her brown eyes narrowed down at her cards, "Don't be surprised if you find all of that missing tomorrow." Mordin looked up and smiled, "...that may be, problematic. Might have to watch my back then." Kasumi smirked coyly, "You won't even know I'm there." Mordin cleared his throat, "I suppose it is a good thing I hardly sleep." Liara huffed slightly, she was faring a lot better than I was but only by a little, "By the Goddess Mordin, whatever happened to playing one game only?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Fun watching all of you struggle." Jacob shook his head, "Laugh it up, Salarian." Mordin beamed quietly and Darrin looked over at me, "Damn woman, it doesn't take that long to search through a stack and ask someone for their cards!" I snapped back at him, "Uh, yeah it does when you constantly have to Go Fish!" Darrin smirked, he enjoyed pushing my buttons, "I know, I just enjoy firing you up." I rolled my eyes, and found three of the same cards, I looked up at Jacob, "Jacob...can I please have your queens?" Jacob chuckled loudly, "Go Fish!" I sighed lowly, picked up a card from the stock, and looked up when I saw Saren lingering near us, his eyes on me. I smiled at him to which he only huffed.

He stood looking around for a while before he finally walked towards our group. He stood next to my chair and looked down upon my hands with a smirk. The table grew quiet for a moment before Jacob bravely muttered, "Arterius." Saren looked up and bowed his head, "Taylor." Liara hesitated for a moment and looked at him, "Would you like to play, Saren? We wouldn't mind an extra player." I huffed and placed my cards face down, "Hey, how about he takes my place and I watch because I'm fucking done I think I'm officially poor and I think all of my credits are gone...so don't ask me for money." Darrin looked over at me and I shot him a warning look, "Hey, can I borrow some credits, I want a soda from the dispenser." I huffed loudly and gently punched his shoulder, "Asshole!" Darrin laughed and Mordin looked at me, "Afraid to lose? Cannot quit while still in game. Halfway there, you'll make it." I groaned before banging my head on the table and looking at Jacob as he called out for cards, earning a book in the process. Saren pulled up a chair next to me and looked at my large deck, "...That is pathetic." I glared at him and he merely smirked evilly, "I can't help it if my luck sucks when it comes to card games!" He shrugged and looked at the pile of credits near Mordin's elbow, "100 credits though? Are you really that confident?" I looked down sheepishly, "I may or may not have gotten carried away." He released a hiss which I assumed was his way of hiding a cackle, "I have no idea what trivial human game you are playing and I know I can do better than you, woman." I narrowed my eyes at him, "Oh really? I'd like to see that happen." He leaned back in his seat, his metal-coated mandibles fluttering gently, "Do I hear a challenge?" I looked up at him from under my long lashes and smirked widely, "Possibly." He slouched forward again, resting an arm against the table and leaning awfully close to me, "Very well. If I win, you must do what I say for a week." My eyes widened and I released a surprised laugh, "A week? That's pushing it, don't you think?" He shrugged his shoulders confidently, "I could make it two if you continue to complain." I clenched my jaw and paused, taking my turn before adding another book to my other small pile of books, "Fine. But..." And this is where I smiled cheekily and leaned in towards him, the proximity made him lean back a bit but he clacked his mandibles thoughtful, "Spit it out, I am not getting any younger." I deadpanned him, "But you'll have to wear a tutu for a week if I win." His mandibles fluttered once in deep thought before they spread out in a Turian grin, "Challenge accepted."

This round was finally over and I looked at Mordin as he collected all of his damn earnings, "Yeah. No surprise here, just take it all you little leech." He suppressed a laugh, "Jealous are we? Will do better next time." By now the group had relaxed around Saren, they seemed a bit surprised to find out that he had a sense of humor under all of that sarcastic attitude despite being around him for quite a long time, especially the original crew of the Normandy. Darrin looked over at Saren with a smirk, "Maha's not a challenge at all so you'll beat her best anyway. When you win, make her pour milk all over herself sometime during that week." I looked over at him and scoffed exasperatedly before Saren chuckled, "That is a brilliant idea. She can do that on the first day." I snapped my head back at him and shook my head, he shrugged in my direction, "What?" I rubbed my temple, "I'm going to die...I'm gonna die, it's settled guys, just gotta go get my tomb stone engraved. 'Here lies Maha, the girl who literally died of embarrassment'."

Liara looked over at me as the table went into hysterics, "...I am sorry, why don't we just cross our fingers and hope Saren doesn't win." Saren huffed, "She might end up breaking her fingers." I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "Laugh it up, Arterius." He grinned evilly in my direction, the smile itself just said, 'Huge Asshole'. He leaned towards me as he took his five cards from Jacob who had finished shuffling the deck and was passing out the cards again. "Hey, Maha, hand me your cards. I'll shuffle them since you're done playing, we could use some for the stock." I nodded and reached over for mine, Saren interjected, "How do we play this so called, Go Fish, woman?" My hand accidentally dropped some cards and I groaned, "God, look what you made me do. Your glower power made me drop them." He seemed to have dead panned me as I paused to look at him, "Yes, yes that is exactly what it is, Maha." I laughed at his bitter tone as he sassed me, it still surprised me when he used my name, it sounded foreign on his tongue but I suppose I'll get used to it. I paused and quickly explained the rules to him, and then leaned down again to pick up my dropped cards as they all started a new game. I had switched seats with Saren so that he was closer to the others. My huge shirt slid down my shoulder and I heard a loud gasp from Kasumi, "Oh my god. Maha is that a hickey?! Wait...what do you even call a Turian hickey anyway?"

I shot straight up; the dropped cards now in my hands as my wide eyes scanned the now still table. Their eyes were all on me. Saren coughed roughly and I covered up my shoulder. "I-it's not a hickey! I just fell!" Darrin guffawed as my face grew warm, I handed the cards back to Jacob and watched as the game started up again, slowly this time. Kasumi looked at me with that sneaky smirk of hers, "Right. Because we totally have sharp objects just lying around." I was even more surprised when Saren broke the silence that lingered for a moment, "Did you fall upon a rake?" I paused and then nodded my head awkwardly, "Yup. That's it guys, it was a rake." He looked at me with those all seeing cybernetic eyes and smirked, "Right, of course. As if we definitely have a garden and flowers planted aboard the Normandy." I knew that Saren knew exactly where this scar had come from, he had seen it and sensed it literally the day after I had gotten it two years ago, he was even a bit angry when he saw it. I knew that he knew what it meant to a Turian.

I didn't even know how to respond to his sarcastic comeback and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, a tight knot forming in my throat. "It was an imaginary rake." Darrin laughed up again, shaking his head before I finally confessed, "God alright, Garrus gave it to me! Ya happy now?" Liara looked at me and smiled, she must have known the meaning and was keeping her own remarks at bay. Kasumi on the other hand waggled her eyebrows suggestively at me, "My, my, my! I didn't know you were into biting. That's intense!" Jacob held back a laugh, "Shit Maha, that is intense. Didn't think you were into kinky!" My jaw dropped at the notion and my cheeks flared hot as I hid my face in my hands, "T-THATS NOT IT AT A-ALL OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE BRUTAL!" There was laughter everywhere; even Saren seemed to chuckle gently. How does one explain such a situation like this when one was surrounded by a bunch of dirty minded people save for Mordin, he didn't...wait no, I take that back. Mordin looked at me seriously, I shook my head at him, "Chaffing cream still available in my lab. If you need more, let me know."

Saren perked up at this and looked at me with raised brow plates, "Chaffing?" My eyes widened and I shook my head and waved my hands wildly, "It's nothing!" Liara finally broke her sweet girl image and giggled wildly, "Goddess, I didn't know you preferred it rough!" I shook my head again and raised my voice, "HAHAHAHAHA, very funny! Can I please fucking explain before I actually do die?" The laughter died down slowly but surely. I revealed the pink scar and sighed, "I first got the scar a couple of a days before the original Normandy…you know…blew up. Garrus bit down on me and explained thoroughly what it meant, I'm his territory..." Before I could continue Kasumi piped up, "That's it? That's kind of anticlimactic." Mordin spoke up, "Negative Kasumi, if allowed Maha to continue she would have further explained. It is an honor and a trust, to be marked by your lover in Turian culture." Saren cleared his throat after a long pin drop silence, "The Salarian is correct. It symbolizes a bond and is a deep trust between the couple. Garrus has apparently decided that Maha will be his, he does not want anyone else in his life which is why he has marked her and by doing that he has released his pheromones on her which allows other alien races and Turians to sense his connection to her." Mordin nodded and piped up again, "A bond mate, that is what she is to Garrus. Pheromones useful to keep others away, but not in some cases. To other Turians or aliens that may be interested in her, it is a challenge. Especially to another Turian, they do not give up easily...if there was another Turian..." At this he looked at Saren for a while, and Saren merely looked away, clearing his throat leaving Maha confused at the silent conversation that had gone down between them, he picked up again, "He would exert his dominance upon Garrus and they would challenge each other for Garrus's bond mate. These acts of behavior can be sometimes quite dangerous and unsettling. Best to be careful." I looked over at Mordin and furrowed my brows; he had looked directly at me, sending me some kind of hidden message that I clearly wasn't understanding.

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded, "That's basically it." Darrin looked over at me and smirked, "If that scar is from a long while ago, why is it all pink and fresh looking?" Saren looked at me this time and cocked his head to the side, "Yes, why does it look so flustered, Maha?" I felt cornered and trapped and began wringing my hands nervously, "...Because we possibly got…UHM...carried away?" The whole table guffawed into loud fits of laughter, everyone except Saren who merely just glared at me, I raised my eyebrows at him and he merely just grunted deeply before looking down at his cards, "WHY THE HELL ARE WE TALKING ABOUT MY SEX LIFE? Play the fucking game for gods sake!"

My eyes were wide as I looked at the verdict of the last round of the game. Everyone was surprised and flustered. After a dozen more games it had constantly been Saren and Mordin who had entered sudden death with each other over and over again. Finally, they called it quits and distributed the credits evenly between the two. Not only had Saren bested me beyond my own best, he had been a huge challenge to Mordin too. At one point, everyone called it quits and had watched them. Saren looked at me, a large...dominating smirk forming on his beak, "What was that bet again?" I rolled my eyes and huffed, I leaned back in my chair as he leaned in towards me. Darrin piped up, "You got your ass whooped hard." I glared past Saren and looked back at him when his mandibles fluttered, "Say it." I pouted but finally released a sigh, "You win you fucker." He sneered at my use of suggestive language, something he often scolded me about. He crossed his arms across his chest and cocked his head to the side, "So, starting next week, you might want to make sure that there is some milk reserved especially for you." I narrowed my eyes at him, "What? Am I gonna be pouring the whole gallon on my head?" Saren took a moment to pause before he looked back at Darrin for approval, which he sadly got and then looked back at me, "Yes. That would be correct." My mouth hung open and I stood up, "Fuck...all...of...you." Saren merely huffed with a shake of his head as the cards were collected and small chatter began. I slowly sat back down next to Saren and he looked at me, "Chaffing, huh?"


	13. Tidbit 13

_During Mass Effect 2_

**Tidbit#13**

**Maha's POV**

We were on shore leave again, this was for a few hours though, four at tops. Shepard wanted to get some new firearms and extra supplies to stock up for the next few weeks. Gabby and Kenneth needed something for the SR-2 as well, some couplings to make the girl run even smoother than she already did. But mostly Shepard enjoyed looking at firearms. She stood before us with Thane at her side, "Rendezvous back here in 4 hours, we'll be set to leave by then. You know the rules, don't kill anyone and don't set anything on fire, that goes for you specifically, Grunt." There was a deep chuckle behind me and I couldn't help but shake my head. A carton of milk weighed my right arm down and I groaned inwardly thinking about what I had to do in a few moments. Me and my damn mouth. Garrus towered next to me with Kelly Chambers on my other side, Jack being right next to her. Joker had somewhat reluctantly handed the ship for safeguarding over to EDI after being badgered by Shepard to take a breather, he was standing right in front of me with Darrin next to him. Saren stood directly behind me, his close proximity making Garrus twitchy; he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and rubbed my arm.

I stared up at him and smiled. He leaned over slightly, whispering with a disapproving hiss in his voice, "You know, you can turn back now." I sniffed quietly, I had gotten a bit of a cold and my throat was killing me. I could hardly speak without having to whisper or stay completely quiet. That was definitely hard enough. Saren on the other hand had explained that I just liked to hear my own voice all of the time which was why the Spirits decided to make me sick. Doctor Chakwas had scolded me harshly for not taking the mediation necessary for an almost immediate recovery. My response was that I wanted to take as few hardcore medicines as possible, so Chakwas bargained with me and gave me some small medication and home remedies for my throat and cold. She disapproved of me leaving the Normandy but I had also neglected to tell her that I was currently being forced on shore with a jug of milk because of a stupid bet. She won't be too happy if she finds me returning to the Normandy sopping wet with the reek of dairy. I'll admit, Garrus was absolutely fuming at Saren for this, he wasn't too happy to find out about the bet. They had gotten into a huge argument that almost led to violence…again. Zaeed was actually the one who broke them up this time; the man was grumbling and cursing at them for at least 20 minutes, which was quite impressive.

I huffed and stood on the tips of my toes for a bit and whispered out painfully, "I don't go back on my word, the week will be over before you know it. How much worse can it get compared to having to pour a gallon of milk all over myself?" There was a quiet scoff right behind me before Saren leaned over my shoulder and smirked, "It's only just the beginning, girl." At this gesture Garrus snapped around and bared his razor sharp teeth, his mandibles clacking loudly against his jaw. Saren leaned away with only a hiss and paid Garrus no mind. My Turian bond mate merely just gripped me more firmly; his hand rubbing against my half sleeved shirt again.

I specifically wore clothing that I didn't give two shits about. My old, plain red shirt with a pair of black workout shorts that I had unearthed a while ago. I wore red flats but as soon as I was getting ready to devastate myself, I would take them off, I loved them too much. My hair was in a high messy bun on top of my head and I wore no makeup, my skin bare and prepped for catastrophe. I felt a deep scratchy sensation in my throat and thus began my coughing fit. I heaved slightly and put my mouth to my sleeve. Garrus leaned over, nuzzling my cheek and patting my back gently. "You're only going to get sicker if you pour that milk all over yourself. As soon as the atmosphere hits your wet body you're going to regret your decision...and your big mouth." I deadpanned him and gently flicked his fluttering mandible, "I'm not going to show that I'm a coward! I'm going through with this. Now don't worry about me, I know you, Zaeed, and Thane wanted to head to the shooting range. Knock yourselves out. I'll be fine." I looked straight up at him as he sternly folded his arms across his broad chest. I did the same thing, asserting my dominance as he narrowed his eyes down at me thoughtfully. His mandibles clacked with contemplation before he finally sighed and used his fingers to tilt my chin up. He leaned down and I stood on my toes to fill the gap. He gently pecked my lips and nodded his head before jogging on ahead to catch up with Zaeed and Thane.

I was left with Kelly, Darrin, Jack, and Saren. I heaved again and put a hand on my sternum. Darrin walked up to me and I pouted, "I feel like shit." He folded his arms across his chest and then grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently in a playful way as Saren approached us. "GODDAMIT Maha, stopping being sick!" I scoffed and rolled my eyes; I deadpanned Darrin when he released me, "Oh, psshh. Sure, like you know, there's an off button around here somewhere." Saren stared at me for a moment, his long horns framing the sides of his face and shimmering with cybernetics. "There is." I looked at both men as Darrin smirked widely. I put a hand on my left hip and arched my left brow at them, "Oh, is that so?" Darrin nodded his head, oh boy. The only thing that made these two remotely acknowledge each other was their hobby of bringing misery and despair into my life. They both enjoyed joining forces and firing me up with their constant teasing and jabs. Sometimes even Garrus took their side, which got all three of them in trouble when I started throwing things that were in my remote proximity.

I rolled my eyes as Saren looked down at his talons thoughtfully, "Maybe if we shut off that eccentric and hyperactive brain of yours, then all of **THIS** would stop." He used his hands to point out myself as a whole, I stared daggers at him and huffed, "You just gestured to all of me!" He smirked and crossed his long arms across his chest, "Precisely, human." I shook my head at him and then couldn't help but release an exasperated chuckle, "I'm sure if we turned off my brain, it would mean that I'm dead." Saren merely shrugged while Darrin interjected, "...Nah." I looked at him with furrowed brows, "What?" He pointed at me with a matter of fact smirk, "You'd just be really stupid." I clenched my jaw very tightly, stopping myself from releasing a long string of colorful curses, "Do you want me to explode this gallon of milk on your head?" Darrin merely guffawed while Jack walked over to stand next to me, Kelly on my other side, "Can I do it instead? I've been itching for some fun." I looked over at Jack and smirked while holding out the jug of milk towards her only to be stopped by Kelly who shook her head and _'tsked'_ disapprovingly at all of us, "You guys. You do realize how wrong this is, right? This whole bet thing?"

We all looked at her with blank stares before Jack did one of her famous eye rolls again, "And here comes miss goody two shoes with her fucking speeches again." Kelly merely eyed Jack before crossing her arms across her chest and staring sternly at all of us, "That was very rude Jack. What did I tell you about finding an outlet and saving all of that unnecessary tension for fights only?" Jack deadpanned her and put her tattooed arms on her slim waist, the leather straps covering her chest constricting slightly. "That's fucking stupid. Why would I do that? I don't recall myself coming out of your vagina so do me a favor, sweetheart, stop fucking telling me what to do before I strap you onto the mast of the Normandy and ask Joker to go full speed until you deteriorate into nothing but those little sparkles and that glittery sweetness you've always wanted to be." I put a hand up to my mouth to try and stop the full blown cackle that was trickling out of my lips as Kelly merely stared at Jack with her mouth wide open. Darrin on the other hand was laughing until his hands were on his knees and tears started watering his eyes. Saren merely raised his brow plates with an amused expression on his otherwise stoic features, clearly, he was impressed.

I turned towards Jack and held my fist out, my eccentricity made Jack weary of my company but she found that I would only continue to go see her below the deck in Engineering, I enjoyed her company and Jack at first only thought that I wanted something out of her. She soon, to her surprise, found out I wanted nothing but to be her friend. She was reluctant at first, even vehement, but she very slowly started opening herself up to me. Jack stared down at my hand and gave me a loud sigh before she pounded my fist. I looked over at Kelly and then back at Jack, "Encore please, anytime you want just let it loose. It's really entertaining." Jack merely smirked widely before she playfully punched my arm, "I guess, still nowhere near as fucking hilarious as you and these guys running around being stupid idiots." At this Saren bristled a bit but maintained silence and crossed his arms sternly across his chest.

He did not take kindly to insults, even when they partially directed towards him. Kelly stamped her foot and looked over at Darrin and Saren, "So you two are just going to let Maha, who is also sick, pour cold milk all over herself? What if she gets sicker? Don't you think this is wrong? Placing such ridiculous requests. Why didn't you guys think this through and ask for a simple task like washing your clothes or making your food? This is very rude! What do you two have to say for yourselves?" Saren looked over at Darrin and they both shrugged while all I did was hope that I didn't have to pour all of this milk on myself. Alas, that would not change, both men were stubborn.

Saren looked down at his sharp talons again, "If it wasn't for her rambunctious behavior and her competitiveness, she wouldn't be going through this right now." Darrin nodded, "It was her in the first place, her and her stupid big mouth. She talks too much. Don't blame us when she set herself up for it." I merely glared at the two men before gripping the milk carton tightly. Jack looked over at me and laughed, "You screwed yourself up real bad." I rolled my eyes, "Gee, thanks Jack, like I haven't gotten that 100 times before already from everyone else." Jack merely raised her arms defensively and backed off, "Hey, I'm only here for the live show, no need to bite my ass off." I smirked and pointed at her, "Yeah except there isn't much to bite." The biotic took that as a challenge and ruffled up my hair messily, strands coming out from my messy bun. "Yeah but the real problem is there's enough of yours to kick real hard." I chuckled at her wittiness and fixed my hair. "Oh, and by the way, Darrin promised me and the others for a recording of your little stunt, I wanted to see it up close...but that doesn't mean I still won't record."

I looked at Jack with wide eyes and then slowly glared at Darrin, "YOU'RE GOING TO RECORD THIS?!" Darrin put his hands on his hips, "Well no shit Sherlock. I promised everyone already." I groaned as Saren pulled up his omni-tool, already beginning to record, "I hate you all, I hope pyjaks eat you all alive." Kelly exasperatedly threw her hands up in the air, "What do you two boys have to say for yourselves?" Darrin looked over at Saren who merely scoffed at the ginger, "I'm warning you now human, if you are having trouble closing your flapping gums, I will not hesitate on making your job easier for you." He raised a talon finger at her with a scary scowl on his face. Darrin nodded, "Yeah. That basically means we don't care, and you know what I see, my fucks, flying waaaayyyy up there, I can't even see them now, shit...it seems that I have given no fucks." I rolled my eyes as Saren walked up to me; his omni-tool literally in my face, there was an evil smirk traveling across his face as his mandibles spread.

"What was that you said? About breaking this carton over our heads?" I scoffed and glared up at his brilliant blue cybernetics, "That is what I thought, why don't you do us all a hefty favor and start pouring that milk? We wouldn't want it to sour, now would we?" I clenched my jaw until it strained painfully. I jabbed a finger in his direction as Darrin and Jack pulled up their omni-tools. "Ohhhh...buddy, you are messing with the wrong chick. I **WILL** get back at you." Saren leaned back and playfully flicked my forehead, "I sense a challenge." I swatted at his arm and turned around on my heel, "Darrin throw me that towel after this is over...I ain't coming back out after this." He waved the towel in my direction with a nod before going back to recording.

Kelly merely huffed exasperatedly before throwing her hands up in the air, "I clearly cannot change your minds, I'm leaving." Jack smirked and laughed smugly while recording me taking off my flats and throwing them away from the radius of the milk splatters. She called out after Kelly, "That's right Princess, don't worry, we've got it all under control." I looked down at the jug as I angrily opened it up. Darrin yelled out, "Careful, the milk never asked for this ya know." I looked over at him with the burning glare of a thousand suns, "You better hope I don't cut your balls off and sell them to a bunch of desperate Krogan." Darrin rolled his eyes. I licked my chapped lips; bringing the milk up slowly before lowering it a bit, "Wait! Who's going to clean up this mess? We're kinda doing this publicly. This is the Presidium, not our playground." Saren glowered before hissing in my direction, "If you do not tip that carton over your head, I will personally sabotage your collection of paperback novels." I yelped and furrowed my brows with anxiety, "NO. Anything but the books!" He smirked, clearly amused about finding a weak spot. "Then I suppose you should pour that milk now, girl."

I huffed exasperatedly as I finally lifted the milk over my head only to be stopped by Joker who hobbled onto the scene as fast as his brittle bones allowed him, "Shit...shit…shit, HOLD UP! Wait for me! I'm not personally going to miss this! This is karma for all those times you almost physically abused me!" I groaned really loudly before I snapped at him as he pulled up his omni-tool as well, "That's because you're an ass and you like provoking people." Joker merely shrugged and waved a finger in the air, "Let's go missy, the boss is here so you can finally go on with the show." Jack cackled and barked out at me, "That's right, don't be such a fucking pussy!" I finally flipped the jug upside and yelped loudly as the cold milk traveled quickly down my body, covering every crevice and nook that my clothing otherwise covered. "COLDCOLDCOLD…KEELAH!"

I dropped the empty carton and shivered violently as the blips of multiple omni-tools turning off resonated towards me, laughter rang around as Darrin gave me the towel, I shivered, my teeth chattering loudly, "Y-y-you are all b-b-uttholes. I h-hope Grunt sets y-your tablets and c-c-consoles on fire." I immediately began toweling myself down; milk dripped everywhere and ran down the Presidium sidewalk we were on. Joker's laugh was the loudest as he walked up to me and pointed, "BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Dear god, you look like a drowned cat!" I glowered at him and nodded my head slowly, "Drowned cat huh? COME HERE YOU LITTLE WORM SO THAT I CAN WRING YOUR NECK!" He yelped and immediately began limping around as I chased after him with stiff legs, my bare feet pattering loudly against the ground, "CANT CATCH ME NOW WITH FISH LEGS CAN YA HUH?" I screeched obscenities at him as Darrin guffawed and recorded every last bit. Jack made no move to stop me as Joker began huffing with exhaustion.

Saren finally nabbed me by the waist; pulling me back so quickly that I was yanked back. He sneered at my wetness before wrapping the very long towel around my head and draping it over my body. He held my shoulders and pointed back towards the docking bay, "Cleanse yourself before you get worse human. I don't want you sneezing all over me with your putrid germs." I rolled my eyes and pointed my finger at Joker who was resting his arms on his knees, "You're on my hit list too, buddy."

~OOO~

I tiptoed quietly through the Normandy SR-2 towards my bunker to get my fresh pair of PJs, my whole body convulsing with cold shivers. My hands gripped tightly on to my flats as I cursed when I almost slipped near the airlock. EDI greeted me casually before questioning my appearance, my only response was a frantic and hushed, "Ssshhhh! EDI! Not so loud! Just do me a huge favor, don't tell Chakwas I'm here. She'll kill me if she finds out what I did." EDI was quiet for a few moments before her holographic figure appeared next to my head, "What is it that you exactly did, Maha?" I shook my head, "I promise I'll tell you later, right now…A hot shower would be great." EDI's voice traveled behind me, "I have already unlocked your door so that you do not have to struggle with your security lock." I smiled and sighed quietly, "Oh, thank you so much EDI. You know that I love you right?" EDI was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, "I'm sorry, but I cannot return your feelings at this time, Maha. I hope you will understand." I laughed at her lame attempt to shoot me down, "EDI." "That was a joke. I appreciate your friendly love for me, Maha." I hushed myself and smiled, "I know EDI, I know. I'll talk to you soon." EDI's holographic figure disappeared, "Logging you out, Maha."

I tiptoed out of the elevator, looking left and right before heading towards my bunker, I ran in and grabbed my PJs, shampoo, undergarments, and soap. I carried the bundle away from my wet self and hurried into the elevator again, I had to get to the women's bathroom without being spotted. I paced impatiently in the elevator, scoffing at its slowness, "Can't this thing go any faster?!"

I almost screamed out loud when I saw Chakwas outside of the elevator, she jumped at my surprise and chuckled, "Dear lord, you gave me a great scare, missy!" I laughed nervously and attempted to move around her as she entered, "Chakwas, where are you going?" She narrowed her eyes at me gently and put a hand up to her chin, "Well I finished some important paperwork and thought I'd take a stroll through the Presidium. Why do you seem nervous? Are you shivering? Is it your cold? Is it getting worse? Why do you have a towel around you?" As she reached a hand towards me I laughed loudly and whispered as my voice finally started straining me, "Hahahaha! You're so funny Chakwas, gotta go! Bye! Don't be too crazy out there pretty lady!" I sped down to the woman's bathroom and sighed when I was finally under the hot water and getting rid of the stickiness that plagued me.

~OOO~

I slowly dragged my feet across the hard floor of the Normandy and sighed tiredly and jumped into my bed, my BLASTO PJ shorts riding up a bit before I pulled them down, my cami didn't offer much warmth but that was probably because I was sick and everything just seemed ten times colder than it actually was. I rested my head on to my pillow and pulled the blanket up to my waist. I settled my head deeply into my pillow and closed my eyes. Wait...wait a minute. Something was missing. My eyes snapped open and I shot straight up, the darkness of the room leaving me completely blind as my eyes fought to adjust to the inky blackness. My hand scurried under my pillow and I gasped loudly as I realized my pistol wasn't underneath the pillow. My pistol was **ALWAYS** underneath my pillow. How could it be missing? I never moved the pistol and my door had a security lock on it while I was on shore...no one could have broken in. That's impossible. EDI would know.

My voice cracked harshly as I rasped out in a high-pitched voice, "EDI! Has anyone else been in my room?" There was a moment of silence before she piped up, "I do not recall anyone getting past your doors, Maha, you have been the only one in your room all day." I bit my bottom lip harshly, I knew I couldn't sleep without the safety of my pistol...it was a bad habit. Now that the pistol was missing, there was definitely something fishy here; I never move that pistol anywhere and it has always been under my pillow...if it was gone…someone may have been in the room before me. I was suddenly on high alert, my senses perked up as I strained to see in the darkness. I stayed quiet as I listened around for anything; maybe it was just a crewmate pulling a prank on me. I felt vulnerable without my pistol; this was exactly why I kept it underneath my pillow in the first place. I slid my legs out over the bed and slowly stepped down on to the cold hard floor. The iciness traveled up my bare legs. My feet were bare and would offer me the silence I needed to observe my environment without giving myself away. Then again, if there was someone else in my room, they probably knew where I was and were probably watching me now as I swiveled my head in every direction. My bunker wasn't meant to be roomy so where could this person be hiding?

I walked out into the middle of my room and listened quietly. A low scratch from behind me caught my attention and I snapped around, ready in stance. Then there was another scratch in the other direction. I felt my heart flutter in its chamber and felt a knot constrict my throat. Suddenly, long taloned fingers curved slyly around my neck and the other hand slid slowly down my left arm. I held in a gasp as the hand around my neck lingered there for a while. Could this be Garrus? What kind of surprise was this? I was hoping for something more direct but if this was...hold on. The way the hand caressed my neck felt foreign. The talons were sharper and more curved as they slid sensuously down my neck. "You are growing clumsy, human." I growled and elbowed Saren in the gut. I heard the in take of breath, I had obviously surprised him with my sudden act of violence and whirled around, "EDI, dim lights please!" The lights brightened slightly and now I could see his distinct scowl as he crossed his arms across his chest. I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated.

"DUDE...what the actual fuck?! We're starting this again? You sneaking into my room like you did when I bunked in Omega?!" He shrugged his shoulders, "I was merely testing your alertness..." He then leaned in and used his knuckles to gently rap on my forehead, "As we both saw, they have grown a bit poor. You need to work on that in case something were to happen." I put a hand on my hip and sassily scowled at him, "And you thought the need to test me by feeling me up?!" He scowled and then stalked towards me, like a predator did with its prey. I unconsciously began backing up until the backs of my legs hit against my bed. I looked up at him as he leaned in, his face only inches away from mine. "Don't flatter yourself, girl." I huffed defiantly. "My hand was looking for your pulse. Which I have to say, was speeding up very quickly, like a little harmless bird, trapped in the sight of her predator." He growled lowly as he said this. I gulped and gently shoved him back, "You still could have oh, I don't know...knocked like a normal organic being!"

When he didn't say anything and merely decided to stand defiantly before me I rolled my eyes and croaked out, "EDI! I thought you said no one was in my room before me?" There was a long silence as I waited for a response, the whole time eyeing Saren down. I refused to be intimidated by those blue cybernetic orbs of his. "...he threatened to disable my main processor if I spoke out against his wishes..." I huffed and put my hands on my hips looking at Saren with pure disbelief, "That's okay EDI, I don't blame you. Thanks." EDI didn't respond so I assumed she took that as her leave. I shook my head and held out my hand, "My pistol that you so ungraciously stole?" He looked at me with a thoughtful glare, he pulled out the pistol and held it out in front of him, "You mean this pathetic thing?" I narrowed my eyes at him and reached out to snatch it back when he suddenly pulled it back. My mouth snapped open and I threw my arms up, "SAREN!" He shrugged his shoulders, a smirk spreading on his features.

That's how he wanted to play it? Fine by me. I threw in the first quick jab, which he easily dodged, I barely leaned back away when his talon raked the air before me, to think that could have been me. He scored a kick to my side and I felt myself thrown on the ground. I scrambled up and swept my leg out, he dodged that and I snapped back up, dodging and avoiding his fast swipes and kicks. I almost forgot how good he was with hand-to-hand combat. He also had too many damn tricks up close too; he liked tangoing up close. I aimed a well-packed punch to his jaw and the sound of the impact made me smile as he hissed from the power I packed. My momentary victory caught me off guard and he yanked my hand up and behind me, pulled me in a fast circle and up against his back.

I released a wince and hissed when he tugged on my locked arms tighter. "Submit." I struggled against his grasp and huffed, "Never!" He wasn't giving me his best, I knew that his by the way he was fighting…he was holding back so that he wouldn't intentionally send me to Chakwas. She would have given him a large scolding. I stomped down on his foot, heard a satisfying grunt as pulled my elbow back, giving him a good one in the gut. Or I thought. He gripped me forcefully and shoved me back on to my bed; I attempted to scramble back, getting slightly caught in my sheets. He came down upon me and locked my arms next to my head, his talons gently digging into my bare skin. The grasp on my wrists was tough and firm. I groaned loudly, trying to kick my legs up so that I could flip him but he bared his weight down on me, trapping them underneath him.

I huffed as he leaned down and smiled, "Submit." I struggled uselessly for a couple of minutes longer and finally stopped fighting him. My body limp against his. "Fine." His mandibles spread widely in a grin and he loosened his grip and freed my legs. I felt as if I could breath again but my throat constricted me as I stared up at him with wide thoughtful eyes. My heart fluttered wildly in my chest like a trapped little humming bird. His proximity had my heart racing and I visibly gulped. He looked down at me thoughtfully for a moment, cocking his head to the side; I looked at him, blinking at his leering gaze. "W-what?" His mandibles fluttered once before his harsh voice cut through the silence, "Your heart races unnaturally." I smiled awkwardly, "That's probably because you've got me in a very intimidate position, Saren." His eyes never left mine as he observed me, I looked away for a moment, "Oh? I see." He climbed off of me and pulled me up harshly, I collided into his chest, and he had an iron grip on my right wrist. "You have grown warmer." I yanked my wrist free and leaned away from him until the distance was reasonable. "Remember? I'm sick. My body is over working in order to make sure the sickness plaguing me dies off." He looked away for a moment and I took the opportunity to lean towards him.

"Hey. Random question...there's a certain weak spot Garrus has, he completely shuts down and gets all quiet and starts purring when I rub there...is that the case with all Turians or does it depend on who it is?" At the mention of Garrus, Saren snapped his head in my direction and visibly rolled his eyes, "Garrus again?" I playfully swatted his arm which he didn't like as he sighed exasperatedly, "What spot was this you were rubbing?" I looked at him awkwardly and began wringing my hands nervously. "Is that an open invitation?" He looked at me and then looked away, I reached my right hand towards him, my eyes distracted by the cybernetic glow his horn gave off. I gently slid my hands down it, he tensed up upon contact, but then I visibly noticed him loosen up. I reached behind his neck and his head shot up as my hand began caressing there, "Wait not-"

His sentence was cut off as he immediately slouched over into me. I giggled out in surprise as I continued to rub the back of his neck, the skin softer there than his otherwise plated body. His eyes drooped until they finally closed and his head inclined towards me. Soon purring resonated into my ears and I realized that he was purring so loudly that I felt it against me. Then it hit me. **DUH**. He was of avian descent! Birds loved having the back of their necks stroked! No wonder both Garrus and Saren were vulnerable like this. It was absolutely amusing and adorable.

I pulled my hand back for a moment and suddenly his claws were gently wrapped around my throat. He shoved me forcefully until my back hit my bed. I gasped out in surprise and looked into his eyes as he growled deeply, revealing his metal-coated teeth, "Never do that again." I was taken aback, confused, "But you had told me-" he snapped again, deeper this time, "Never again." I nodded, his hand lingered on my neck before he got off of my bed and threw my pistol at me, "Work on being more alert. That can be a deadly weakness if you leave it as it is." I sat up slowly and huffed, his attitude bothered me and I walked in front of him, blocking his way.

"What is with your attitude!? One moment you're reasonable and the next you're harsh and bitter! I don't understand, you can't keep doing th-" suddenly his hand shot out to the side of my neck and I gasped, "Don't you even d-" he pressed firmly down on my pressure point and before I knew it I was knocked out cold and passed out right into Saren's arms.

~OOO~

I snapped awake with a gasp, I looked around my room to find it empty and then swiped a few messy strands out of my face. My memory came flooding back to me and I growled, "HE FORCEFULLY PUT ME TO SLEEP! That asshole!" I mumbled colorful words before shaking my head and hearing a scoff near the couch directly resting by my bed. I screamed out loud and Saren winced, cocking his head slightly at the sheer pitch of my voice. "What part of heightened senses do you not understand?!" I scrambled out of my bed and pointed at him, "YOU PRESSURE POINTED ME! How dare you?!" He rubbed his temple and hissed, "Your voice was annoying me. So I shut you up, problem?" I glared at him and pouted, "HIT LIST, YA HEAR ME?! You are on my fucking hit list!" He smirked at me as he rolled his shoulders, "You will never be able to get back at me, human." I sneered at him, "We'll see about that…wait...WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL HERE?!"


End file.
